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tfucation  Department  Bulletin 

Published  fortnightly  by  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York 

Entered  as  second-class  matter  June  24,  1908,  at  the  Post  Office  at  Albany,  N.  Y., 
under  the  act  of  July  16,  1894 


No.  4Qi 


ALBANY,  N.  Y. 


March  15,  1911 


HAUPTGEWERBESCHULE  AT  HAMBURG 


REPORT  ON  THE  INDUSTRIAL 
SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 

WITH  REFERENCES  TO  HARBURG  AND  BLANKANESE 

BY 

Harry  B.  Smith 

ALBANY 

UNIVERSITY  OF  THE  STATE  OF  NEW  YORK 
I91 1 

D455r-Fi  1-3000 


V 


I V 

L*j\J CATION 

Regents  of  the  University 
With  years  when  terms  expire 

1913  Whitelaw  Reid  M.A.  LL.D.  D.C.L.  Chancellor  New  York 

1917  St  Clair  McKelway  M.A.  LL.D  .Vice  Chancellor  Brooklyn 

1919  Daniel  Beach  Ph.D.  LL.D.  - r-  - - - Watkins 

1914  Pliny  T.  Sexton  LL.B.  LL.D.  -----  Palmyra 
1912  T.  Guilford  Smith  M.A.  C.E.  LL.D.  - - - Buffalo 
1922  Chester  S.  Lord  M.A.  LL.D.  -----  New  York 

1915  Albert  Vander  Veer  M.D.  M.A.  Ph.D.  LL.D.  Albany 

1918  William  Nottingham  M.A.  Ph.D.  LL.D.  - - Syracuse 

1911  Edward  Lauterb a ch  M.A.  LL.D.  - - - - New  York 

1920  Eugene  A.  Philbin  LL.B.  LL.D.  - - - - New  York 

1916  Lucian  L.  Shedden  LL.B.  LL.D.  - - - - Plattsburg 

1921  Francis  M.  Carpenter  -------  Mount  Kisco 

Commissioner  of  Education 

. Andrew  S.  Draper  LL.B.  LL.D. 

Assistant  Commissioners 

Augustus  S.  Downing  M.A.  Pd.D.  LL.D.  First  Assistant 
Charles  F.  Wheelock  B.S.  LL.D.  Second  Assistant 
Thomas  E.  Finegan  M.A.  Pd.D.  Third  Assistant 

Director  of  State  Library 

James  I.  Wyer,  Jr,  M.L.S. 

z' 

Director  of  Science  and  State  Museum 

John  M.  Clarke  Ph.D.  D.Sc.  LL.D 

Chiefs  of  Divisions 

Administration,  George  M.  Wiley  M.A. 

Attendance,  James  D.  Sullivan 

Educational  Extension,  William  R.  Eastman  M.A  M.L.S. 
Examinations,  Harlan  H.  Horner  B.A. 

Inspections,  Frank  H.  Wood  M.A. 

Law,  Frank  B.  Gilbert  B.A. 

School  Libraries,  Charles  E.  Fitch  L.H.D. 

Statistics,  Hiram  C.  Case 

Trades  Schools,  Arthur  D.  Dean  B.S. 

Visual  Instruction,  Alfred  W.  Abrams  Ph.B. 


c 

fJnaT 


savivr  *r  QNnwoa 


STATE  OF  NEW  YORK 
EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 
commissioner’s  ROOM 


Three  or  four  years  ago  a young  man  who  said  he  wa^  superin- 
tendent of  the  schools  at  Waterloo,  N.  Y.,  introduced  himself  to  me 
upon  a New  York  Central  Railway  train,  and  said  he  had  taken  the 
train  in  order  to  talk  with  me  about  his  ambition  to'  increase  his 
knowledge  of  educational  work  bearing  upon  industries.  He  very 
soon  convinced  me  that  he  alr^dyd^d  considerable  knowledge  in 
that  line,  but  he  wanted  to'  go  tp  EJij^ipe  and  study  the  public  senti- 
ment, the  plans  of  organizing  and  methods  of  procedure,  the  details 
of  equipment,  and  all  the  ins  and  outs  of  what  was  being  done  to 
develop  more  efficient  workmen  and  thereby  add  to  the  balance  and 
strength  of  nations,  as  well  as  to  the  happiness  of  people.  He  in- 
terested me  very  much.  He  desired  my  help  to  secure  an  appoint- 
ment which  would  the  better  enable  him  to  realize  his  thought.  I 
gave  him  such  aid  as  I could,  and  subsequently  discussed  the  sub- 
ject with  him  at  length  on  two  or  three  occasions.  As  a result,  he 
gave  up  his  work  at  Waterloo  and  spent  a year  in  as  thorough  an 
inquiry  into  the  whole  matter  as  has  probably  been  made  by  any 
American  teacher.  He  not  only  spent  months  in  Europe,  but  he 
went  on  to  Asia  and  around  the  world.  From  time  to  time  he 
wrote  me  of  his  progress,  and  I made  suggestions  to  him  as  to  his 
further  doings. 

This  bulletin  portrays  the  result  of  his  studies  in  one  of  the 
great  cities  of  Germany  and  one  of  the  great  commercial  centers  of 
the  world.  There  he  gained  very  exact  knowledge  of  a subject 
which  is  much  confused  in  the  minds  of  American  teachers,  and 
he  tells  of  what  he  saw  in  a way  that  will  well  repay  reading  by  any 
who  are  really  interested. 

The  general  subject  has  been  for  many  years  much  under  dis- 
cussion in  this  State,  and  I approve  the  publication  of  this  paper  in 
the  hope  that  teachers  into  whose  hands  it  shall  fall  will  read  it 
from  beginning  to  end  with  some  care,  for  I think  they  will  be 
benefited  by  doing  so. 


A.  S.  Draper 

Commissioner  of  Education 


Albany,  Nezu  York 
December  i,  ipio 


4008:17 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2017  with  funding  from 

University  of  Illinois  Urbana-Champaign  Alternates 


https://archive.org/details/reportonindustriOOsmit 


Education  Department  Bulletin 

Published  fortnightly  by  the  University  of  the  State  of  New  York 

Entered  as  second-class  matter  June  24,  1908,  at  the  Post  Office  at  Albany,  N.  Y.,  under 

the  act  of  July  16,  1894 


No.  491  ALBANY,  N.  Y.  March  15,  1911 

REPORT  ON  THE  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF 
HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 

WITH  REFERENCES  TO  HARBURG  AND  BLANKANESE 

BY 

Harry  B.  Smith  S 

i 

INTRODUCTION 

The  object  of  this  report  is  to  give  as  simply  and  concisely  as 
possible  a sketch  of  the  organization  and  general  working  of  the 
industrial  continuation  schools  of  Hamburg  and  Altona,  touching 
to  some  considerable  extent  upon  those  minor  details  that  are  con- 
tributing to  their  success,  but  are  not  usually  dealt  with  in  broader 
and  more  philosophical  reports  on  German  education.  No  effort 
will  be  made  to  approach  this  problem  from  its  psychological  stand- 
point or  to  present  any  deep,  economic  principles.  Except  for  a 
brief  history  of  the  foundation  of  these  schools  and  references  to 
the  interrelation  between  trade  schools  and  trade-unions  or  boards 
of  trade,  the  body  of  the  report  deals  almost  exclusively  with  the 
everyday  internal  workings  of  the  schools,  having  always  in  view 
those  points  that  should  be  most  useful  to  similar  schools  in  the 
United  States. 

The  information  is  drawn  at  first  hand  from  a residence  of 
seven  months  in  Hamburg  and  Altona,  during  which  time  the  writer 
took  three  courses  as  a student  in  the  industrial  schools  and  visited 
a thousand  classes  here  and  in  other  parts  of  Prussia.  One  of  the 
most  valuable  courses  was  that  given  by  Director  Weckwerk  of  the 
hauptgewerbeschule,  Hamburg,  in  which  the  students  were  teachers 
in  the  public  schools  and  were  learning  the  practical  pedagogy  of 
trade  school  education  with  a view  to  becoming  industrial  teachers. 


6 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


Of  the  classes  visited,  379  presented  one  or  more  points  worthy 
of  a place  in  the  notes.  Other  sources  of  information  were  con- 
sultations with  Inspector  Kasten  of  the  Hamburg  schools,  Director 
Trenkner  of  the  Altona  gewerbeschule,  a course  in  the  application 
of  bookkeeping  to  various  trades  by  Director  Trenkner,  visits  and 
talks  with  the  directors  of  the  various  other  schools  and  with 
special  teachers  in  the  different  classes  of  trade  schools,  a series 
of  visits  made  in  company  with  the  visiting  committee  of  the  Al- 
tona butchers  trade-union  and  a similar  series  in  Hamburg  with 
Inspector  Kasten  and  a committee  of  the  trade  school  board.  In- 
formation was  also  obtained  by  attendance  at  local  public  meetings 
for  the  consideration  of  educational  improvement,  attendance  at 
the  Leipzig  commercial  school  conference  and  finally  visits  and 
questions  to  teachers,  employers,  workmen,  apprentices  and  others 
interested  in  the  work  of  industrial  education. 

Special  acknowledgment  should  be  made  to  the  following  gentle- 
men, not  only  for  their  unfailing  courtesy,  but  for  their  time  and 
advice,  which  were  given  freely  both  in  a series  of  class  visits  and 
in  private  interviews : Inspector  A.  Kasten,  Hamburg ; Director  Dr 
Prof.  Borbein,  realgymnasium,  Altona;  Director  Trenkner,  Al- 
tona; Director  Weckwerk,  Hamburg;  Director  Smarje,  kaufmann- 
ischeschule,  Altona;  Director  Mittlesdorf,  kunstgewerbeschule,  Al- 
tona; Herr  Knobloch,  mechanical  drawing,  Altona;  Herr  Mayer, 
decorative  painter,  Hamburg. 

Acknowledgment  is  also  due  Schulrat  Wagner  of  Altona  for 
kindness  in  . obtaining  permission  for  special  visitations  and  to 
Frau  H.  Kramer  of  Altona  and  Frau  Paula  Oakes  of  Hamburg 
for  their  assistance  in  the  study  of  schools  for  girls.  Thanks  are 
also  due  the  members  of  Director  Trenkner’s  class  for  teachers 
because  of  their  kindness  in  arranging  visits  to  their  classrooms 
and  for  furnishing  notebooks,  courses  of  study  and  samples  of 
students’  work  when  desired.  Prof.  Dr  Schiith  of  Altona  was  of 
great  assistance  in  translation  from  German  into  English  and  the 
teachers  in  the  public  schools  and  continuation  schools  in  Hamburg 
and  Altona  were  unfailingly  courteous  and  helpful  and  ready  to 
render  any  service  in  their  power.  Because  of  the  helpfulness  and 
extreme  kindness  of  all  these  connected  with  the  school  systems  of 
these  two  cities,  and  because  these  cities  are  geographically  one, 
but  politically  different,  this  location  proved  to  be  one  of  the  most 
favorable  in  all  Germany  for  a study  of  the  various  phases  of 
trade  continuation  school  problems. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


7 


HISTORICAL  SKETCH 

Hamburg  and  Altona,  while  forming  one  city  of  over  a million 
inhabitants,  are  really  two  cities  with  two  distinct  systems  of 
schools.  Hamburg  is  a free  city  with  powers  almost  republican 
and  its  social  and  economical  conditions  are  more  like  those  of  the 
United  States  than  those  of  Altona,  which  is  in  Prussia  and  there- 
fore subject  to  the  central  educational  government  at  Berlin.  The 
history,  however,  of  all  trade  continuation  schools  in  Germany 
is  much  the  same  and  that  of  the  Hamburg  schools  is  fairly  typical 
of  those  in  Altona  and  the  other  cities  of  Prussia. 

The  Hamburg  continuation  schools  began  with  a Sunday  school, 
meeting  for  four  hours  Sunday  forenoons  to  continue  the  general 
education  of  pupils  leaving  the  common  school  before  complet- 
ing the  work  of  these  schools.  This  school  gradually  extended 
into  a night  school,  and  the  number  of  evenings  and  number  of 
hours  per  evening  increased  until  there  were  various  classes  from 
5 to  9 p.  m.  six  evenings  in  the  week,  in  addition  to  the  Sunday 
morning  classes.  The  growth  of  these  classes  and  the  gradual 
introduction  of  specific  instruction  and  separate  divisions  for  the 
different  trades  extended  the  schools  into  day  schools,  not  only 
to  provide  more  hours  of  teaching,  but  because  the  popularity  of 
this  instruction  had  increased  so  much  that  masters  were  willing 
to  allow  their  apprentices  certain  hours  of  the  day  for  school 
purposes. 

Parallel  with  this  instruction,  which  was  largely  theoretical,  or 
at  most  semitechnical,  arose  trade-union  schools  supported  by  the 
masters  and  devoted  to  strictly  technical  instruction  in  one  particu- 
lar trade.  Financial  support  from  the  city  and  a most  advantageous 
arrangement  of  program  induced  many  of  these  schools  to  combine 
with  the  general  continuation  schools  to  form  a system  wdierein 
the  apprentice  received  his  technical  training  under  the  master  in 
the  trade-union  school,  going  at  the  same  time  to  the  regular  con- 
tinuation school  for  general  and  theoretical  education.  The  out- 
come of  this  arrangement  was  twofold  — it  cemented  the  union 
of  trade  schools  and  continuation  schools  into  a system  in  which 
the  influence  of  the  teacher  was  extended  into  the  trade  school  and 
the  practical  advice  of  the  trade-union  committee  was  important  in 
directing  the  course  of  education  in  the  public  continuation  school ; 
it  also  gave  impetus  to  practical  handwork  in  the  general  school 
and  hastened  the  increase  of  shops,  studios  and  laboratories  under 
direction  of  the  regular  school  teachers.  This  trend  toward  hand- 


8 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


work  education  made  technical  features  necessary  in  the  common 
continuation  schools,  and  this  in  turn  has  resulted  in  a faculty  of 
professional  teachers  and  professional  craftsmen  working  side  by 
side  for  the  advancement  of  the  student  and  the  betterment  of  one 
another. 

The  continuation  school  of  today  is  therefore  a day  school, 
evening  school  and  Sunday  school,  a school  of  general  classes 
taught  by  common  school  teachers,  of  semitechnical  classes  taught 
by  professional  teachers  with  a special  technical  education,  and  of 
technical  classes,  shops  and  allied  schools  under  the  direction  of 
strictly  practical  men.  It  is  a school  whose  graduates  are  going 
out  demanding  more  education  and  calling  into  being  a technical 
middle  school  and  head  trade  school  for  the  instruction  of  journey- 
men, who  in  turn  have  demanded  the  master  courses  set  by  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  until  there  is  a connected  chain  from  the 
elementary  apprentice  class  to  the  master’s  examination  and  from 
the  entering  class  of  the  trade  school  to  the  technical  high  school, 
which  is  really  a university  and  owes  its  origin  to  other  influences. 

SUPERVISION  AND  GOVERNMENT 

These  modern  continuation  schools  of  Altona  and  Hamburg, 
while  developing  practically  the  same  principles  of  education,  have 
grown  up  under  two  very  different  systems  of  supervision  and 
government.  In  Hamburg,  attendance  upon  such  schools  is  volun- 
tary and  the  system  is  entirely  local ; in  Altona,  attendance  is  com- 
pulsory and  the  schools  are  units  in  the  great  Prussian  educational 
system.  The  city  of  Hamburg  has  a special  elective  board  of 
trade  school  education  which  was  formerly  a branch  of  the  general 
school  board,  but  has  grown  more  and  more  independent  as  the  con- 
tinuation schools  grew  in  number  and  the  powers  and  duties  of  this 
board  increased.  Today  they  have  the  same  president  as  the 
general  school  board,  but  are  otherwise  independent,  except  that 
these  two  boards  must  work  in  harmony  because  in  many  cases  the 
same  teachers  are  employed  in  both  schools,  the  same  buildings 
are  in  use  for  day  and  evening  classes  and  a misunderstanding 
between  the  boards  would  be  fatal  to  both  systems.  Because  of 
this  close  interrelationship  and  because  the  principal  of  a building 
during  the  regular  session  is  not  always  the  same  man  as  the  prin- 
cipal of  that  building  when  in  use  by  the  evening  school  and  under 
the  direction  of  a different  board,  it  would  be  better  for  the  city 
and  more  conducive  to  harmony  among  all  teachers  if  these  con- 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


9 


tinuation  schools  that  have  not  a separate  building  and  a director 
devoted  exclusively  to  their  work  were  placed  under  the  same 
board  as  the  regular  schools  but  with  a separate  subcommittee.  This 
would  be  more  satisfactory  to  the  directors  and  to  most  of  the 
teachers,  but  the  committee,  having  advanced  the  schools  to  such 
perfection,  naturally  desires  to  retain  its  independence. 

The  industrial  school  board  is  divided  into  subcommittees  for 
trade  schools,  commercial  schools,  technical  middle  schools,  and 
others.  Directly  under  these  subcommittees  come  the  supervising 
and  administrative  officers.  All  evening  schools  of  the  regular  con- 
tinuation schools  and  various  day  classes  held  in  public  school 
buildings  are  grouped  together  under  an  inspector,  a strong,  efficient 
industrial  school  man ; he  is  also  the  representative  of  the  general 
continuation  schools,  and  confers  with  the  authorities  governing 
the  independent  and  union  schools  attached  to  the  regular  system. 
The  commercial  continuation  schools  for  boys  and  girls,  which  are 
carried  on  in  public  school  buildings,  are  also  under  this  inspector, 
but  under  a separate  subcommittee.  The  inspector  works  con- 
stantly hand  in  hand  with  the  director  of  the  head  trade  school, 
which  handles  a majority  of  the  day  classes  and  shop  or  laboratory 
instruction.  The  director  of  this  school  reports  to  the  same  sub- 
committee on  trade  schools.  These  two  officers  therefore  divide 
between  them  practically  all  the  supervision  of  elementary  con- 
tinuation schools. 

Each  of  the  various  other  schools  of  the  middle  technical  grade 
has  its  special  director  reporting  to  his  subcommittee  and  each 
school  of  the  elementary  grade  has  its  own  director  reporting  to 
the  inspector,  or  head  director.  In  addition  to  the  above,  each 
class  of  schools  has  a regularly  elected  advisory  committee  of 
business  men,  who  visit  the  schools,  advise  as  to  courses  of  study, 
look  after  attendance  and  the  relations  between  the  schools  and 
the  employers  of  apprentices. 

Passing  over  into  Altona  we  find  a very  complete  system  reach- 
ing back  to  Berlin.  At  the  head  stands  the  Ministry  of  Com- 
merce and  Trade  under  which  comes  the  State  Bureau  of  Trades 
in  six  divisions  — trade,  business,  continuation  and  trade  schools, 
skilled  work  and  fine  arts,  textile  trades,  and  commerce.  Under 
the  third  section  of  the  bureau  comes  the  regierungs  president  for 
that  division  of  the  province  of  Schleswig-Holstein  in  which  Al- 
tona lies,  the  city  magistrat  and  the  director  of  trade  schools,  the 
two  latter  being  considered  city  officials.  The  commercial  schools 


IO 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


are  under  a separate  director  and  these  four  officials,  with  a trade 
school  committee  of  ten  men,  have  the  direction  of  all  trade  con- 
tinuation schools.  The  personnel  of  the  committee  is  as  follows : 
i magistrat,  a city  official;  i schulrat,  a provincial  school  officer; 
i director,  a city  official ; 3 city  deputies,  political  officers ; 3 citi- 
zens; 1 representative  from'the  Ministry  of  Commerce  and  Trade. 
This  committee  is  for  the  entire  continuation  school  system  of 
Altona  and  meets  whenever  necessary. 

DIVISION  OF  TRADE  SCHOOLS 

The  division  of  trade  schools  in  Altona  is  very  simple.  All 
trade  continuation  schools  are  classified  as  gewerbeschulen  and  are 
under  one  director;  the  commercial  classes  are  all  in  one  public 
school  building  and  under  a separate  director,  who  is  also  director 
of  the  same  school  building  in  the  daytime,  when  it  is  used  as  a 
middle  school.  The  artistic  trades  are  in  their  separate  building, 
the  kunstgewerbeschule,  with  day  and  evening  classes  under  a 
competent  director  and  the  highest  work  is  done  in  the  machinen- 
bauschule  and  navigationschule,  which  are  advanced  types  of  tech- 
nical schools  directly  under  the  central  government. 

In  Hamburg,  however,  the  division  is  more  complicated  because 
of  the  size  of  the  city  and  the  voluntary  nature  of  school  attend- 
ance. At  the  bottom  of  the  ladder  stand  the  trade  and  continuation 
schools  for  apprentices  and  journeymen,  divided  into  a vorschule  for 
unprepared  students,  handwerkergewerbeschule  for  trades,  kauf- 
mannischegewerbeschule  for  commercial  subjects,  fachschulen  for 
single  trades  or  single  apprentices,  and  haushaltungschule  for 
the  household  industries.  The  vorschule  is  not  subdivided,  but 
the  handwerkergewerbeschule  is  again  divided  into  gewerbeschule 
for  evening  and  theoretical  work,  hauptgewerbeschule  for  day  and 
laboratory  work,  tagesgewerbeschule,  an  advanced  step  of  the 
hauptgewerbeschule,  as  is  also  the  wagenbauschule,  and  finally  the 
weibliche  handelsbfleisseneschule,  or  commercial  schools  for  girls. 
These  schools  are  laid  out  to  carry  on  work  for  three  or  four 
half-year  terms.  One  step  in  advance  come  the  technical  middle 
schools  for  journeymen  doing  lower  grades  of  technical  work. 
These  schools  have  a two-year  course  and  produce  the  noncommis- 
sioned officers  for  the  technical  army.  They  are  the  baugewerk- 
schule  for  masons,  bricklayers,  carpenters,  iron  contractors,  con- 
tractor and  builders,  excavators  etc. ; the  technikum  with  special 
departments  for  machine  building,  shipbuilding,  electrotechnics, 
ships  machinery,  ships  engineering  and  marine  machinery  building. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA  II 

On  a plane  with  these  schools,  but  of  a very  different  nature,  is  the 
kunstgewerbeschule  for  the  finer  arts  and  decoration,  and  above 
all  stands  the  master  course  issued  by  the  Hamburg  Chamber  of 
Commerce  and  conducted  under  its  direction,  in  twenty  separate 
divisions,  leading  to  a theoretical  and  practical  examination  with- 
out which  no  master’s  license  will  be  granted. 

BUILDINGS 

The  housing  of  all  the  schools,  the  provision  for  shops  and 
laboratories  at  minimum  expense  and  the  dovetailing  of  industrial 
and  common  school  classes  in  the  same  building  has  been  accom- 
plished in  Hamburg  and  Altona  in  a simple  and  practical  manner. 

The  attitude  of  the  school  authorities  in  Hamburg  regarding 
buildings  is  the  same  as  their  attitude  regarding  shops,  laboratories 
and  equipment.  They  attempt  to  use  the  least  possible  space  at 
minimum  cost  without  being  niggardly  and  to  utilize  anything  and 
everything  in  the  shape  of  room  that  comes  to  their  hands.  New 
space  is  fitted  at  once  into  simple  and  practical  shape  and  the 
schools  are  allowed  to  grow  as  needed ; no>  effort  is  made  to  force 
a large  number  of  improvements  upon  the  people  at  once  or  to 
build  and  equip  expensive  and  elaborate  schools  or  laboratories. 
Many  good  points  can  be  learned  from  noting  the  skill  with  which 
they  have  seized  upon  some  old  abandoned  building  and  turned  it 
into  a series  of  workshops  for  busy  and  enthusiastic  workers.  In 
all  Hamburg  there  is  only  one  building  of  any  size  that  is  devoted 
exclusively  to  industrial  education,  and  no  building  devoted  entirely 
to  the  ordinary  continuation  schools.  The  building  referred  to  is 
the  hauptgewerbeschule,  a substantial  three-story  brick  building 
in  the  center  of  the  city,  well,  but  by  no  means  lavishly,  fitted  up 
and  not  to  be  compared  with  many  of  our  educational  palaces. 
In  this  building  are  housed  the  head  trade  school,  the  building 
trades  school,  the  technikum,  the  machine-building  school  and 
the  school  for  the  finer  arts,  each  with  its  own  director  and  spe- 
cially allotted  space.  There  are  also  several  branches  of  the  head 
trade  school  that  are  located  in  outlying  buildings,  the  most  im- 
portant being  at  Berliner  Thor,  where  two  one  and  a half-story 
plain  cement  buildings,  heated  by  stoves,  have  been  erected  and 
equipped  as  drawing  rooms,  workshops  and  classrooms.  A very 
ordinary  three-story  private  house  has  also  been  fitted  out  as  a 
branch  school  and  is  in  use  by  certain  of  the  single  trade  classes, 
mostly  as  workshops,  and  the  upper  floor  of  one  of  the  trade-union 
buildings  has  been  divided  off  into  workshops  for  the  glaziers, 


12 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


which  is  one  of  the  single  trade  schools  affiliated  with  the  general 
trade  system.  The  practical  school  for  barbers,  a similarly  affili- 
ated school,  is  held  in  the  gymnasium  of  one  of  the  public  day 
schools  and  the  ingenuity  and  simplicity  of  its  equipment  will  be 
considered  in  some  detail  under  “ Shops.” 

Certain  special  advanced  classes  in  the  gewerbeschule  and  classes 
of  ordinary  teachers  attending  lectures  upon  industrial  pedagogy 
meet  in  classrooms  provided  on  the  top  floor  of  an  army  office 
building  in  the  barracks  compound  and  part  of  a private  house 
has  been  fitted  up  as  an  evening  school  for  lady  hairdressers,  and 
still  another  as  a school  for  milkboys.  In  a similar  manner,  a 
number  of  semipublic  trade  classes  are  located  in  various  parts 
of  the  city  and  the  remainder  of  the  work  is  carried  on  in  the 
regular  public  school  buildings  when  not  in  use  by  the  day  schools. 
Of  these  buildings,  one  is  used  as  the  hauptgewerbeschule  for 
evening  and  Sunday  schools  with  ten  branches,  nine  in  common 
school  buildings  in  various  parts  of  the  city  and  one  in  part  of  the 
new  normal  school.  As  far  as  possible  these  schools  have  the 
same  principal  for  day  and  evening  classes,  or  a day  school  teacher 
in  that  building  as  director  of  its  night  school;  but  in  some  in- 
stances there  are  two  distinct  sets  of  teachers  as  well  as  students, 
each  set  responsible  to  a different  board  and  working  for  a different 
ideal  but  using  the  same  building,  desks,  equipment  etc.  with  sur- 
prisingly little  friction. 

This  is  also  true  of  the  schools  in  Altona,  especially  the  com- 
mercial schools,  but  a majority  of  the  trade  school  classes,  both 
day  and  evening,  are  held  in  the  gewerbeschule,  a former  public 
school  building,  which  is  now  devoted  entirely  to  the  continuation 
schools.  The  kunstgewerbeschule  in  Altona  also  has  its  own  build- 
ing, the  old  Sunday  school  building,  but  there  is  good  evidence  of 
the  spirit  of  utilizing  anything  in  sight.  One  of  the  buildings  now 
used  for  the  overflow  continuation  school  classes  was  originally 
a row  of  cheap  two-story  brick  dwellings  which  had  been  made  over 
later  into  offices  for  the  waterworks  and  finally  passed  on  to  the 
schools.  Several  rooms  of  the  government  machine  building  school 
have  been  allotted  to  the  kunstgewerbeschule  for  the  use  of  its 
stonecutters,  lithographers,  engravers  and  printers,  and  an  aban- 
doned church  has  been  secured  by  the  same  school  and  turned  to 
most  excellent  use.  The  lower  floor  of  this  church  has  been  divided 
by  board  partitions  into  rooms  of  various  shapes  and  sizes  cor- 
responding to  dining  rooms,  bedrooms,  reception  rooms,  and  offices. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


These  are  painted,  papered,  decorated  and  even  frescoed  by  the 
students  in  accordance  with  certain  color  schemes  laid  down  by 
the  master  to  fit  each  style  of  room.  The  upper  floor  is  left  as  one 
large  auditorium,  gable-roofed  and  with  heavy  beam  work  on  one 
end.  This  is  divided  into  sections  by  lines  on  the  wall  and  decorated 
with  all  the  various  designs  of  ceiling  decoration,  corner  patterns, 
wall  and  window  designs  used  in  the  more  pretentious  private  and 
public  buildings.  One  set  of  decorations  is  immediately  removed 
to  make  room  for  the  next  and  class  after  class  has  devoted  to 
practise  upon  this  old  building  time,  money  and  skill  that  would 
have  been  worth  thousands  of  dollars  in  the  general  run  of  trade. 
Here  is  a real  laboratory,  a true  workshop  in  a building  that  most 
American  villages  would  consider  out  of  the  question  for  school 
purposes,  where  the  pupils  prepare  their  work  at  common  wooden 
tables,  climb  ordinary  carpenters’  ladders,  work  on  rough  plank 
scafifolds,  and  eat  their  lunches  sitting  on  boxes  or  wood-bottomed 
chairs  drawn  up  to  a wrought-iron  heater. 

LABORATORIES  AND  WORKSHOPS 

There  are  of  course  several  excellently  fitted  out  laboratories  and 
workshops  in  Hamburg  and  Altona,  but  this  church  workshop  is 
typical  of  the  spirit  of  industry  that  makes  equipment  a secondary 
consideration.  In  France,  Austria,  Belgium,  Holland  and  to  some 
extent  in  other  countries,  regular  workshops,  completely  fitted  out 
for  teaching  the  handwork  entire,  are  attached  to  the  ordinary  con- 
tinuation schools,  which  are  not  really  continuation  schools,  as  that 
term  is  used  in  Germany,  but  industrial  schools  occupying  the  entire 
time  of  the  pupils  and  substituted  for  the  ordinary  public  schools. 
Many  such  schools  are  devoted  to  the  theory  and  practice  of  a 
single  trade  and  turn  out  journeymen  who  have  served  no  other 
apprenticeship. 

The  city  of  Munich  has  connected  with  each  trade  school  a work- 
shop much  on  this  plan  and  finds  it  of  particular  advantage  where 
the  apprentice  is  on  piecework  in  the  regular  shop  or  factory,  and 
must  depend  upon  the  handwork  in  school  to  give  him  a well- 
rounded  technical  education.  It  adds  very  materially,  however,  to 
the  cost  of  the  school,  more  than  doubles  the  cost  of  teaching  and 
makes  it  much  more  difficult  to  find  successful  teachers.  The 
artisans  are  mostly  opposed  to  it  in  Germany  because  they  fear, 
unnecessarily,  the  introduction  of  the  French  system  and  believe 
the  apprentices  learn  better  in  the  regular  shop,  at  the  same  time 
furnishing  increased  available  labor  to  the  master. 


14 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


The  general  principle  of  German  industrial  education  is  to  have 
the  trade  school  supplement  the  regular  shop,  giving  what  the  shop 
can  not  give  and  not  usurping  the  actual  shop  instruction.  This 
is  the  principle  of  Hamburg  and  Altona,  and  the  object  is  ever  to 
utilize  the  practical  knowledge  the  apprentices  gain  and  not  to 
duplicate  this  instruction  in  the  school.  There  is,  however,  a de- 
cided leaning  toward  the  other  system  in  the  matter  of  workshops 
for  the  artistic  trades,  painter,  decorator,  tapestry  designer  etc., 
and  in  the  allied  monotechnic  union  school.  Of  the  first  men- 
tioned, the  shops  at  Berliner  Thor  are  the  most  interesting  and 
most  complete.  These  concrete  buildings,  which  have  been  men- 
tioned before,  are  fitted  out  with  the  plainest  and  most  useful  tables 
and  benches,  ordinary  wall  cupboards  for  models  and  paints,  sets 
of  plain,  narrow  drawers  for  storing  drawings,  unpainted  stands, 
easels,  and  drawing  boards.  Here  the  pupils  are  given  the  prin- 
ciples of  mechanical  and  free-hand  drawing  followed  by  color 
scheme  work,  the  application  of  this  to  actual  decoration  and  design, 
conventionalizing,  stenciling,  wall  paper  making  and  imitation,  imi- 
tation of  oilcloth,  tile  and  stone  on  paper,  imitation  of  marbles  and 
wood  on  oilcloth,  stained  glass  windows  on  paper,  graining,  curtain 
making,  upholstery  and  tapestry  design,  drapery  and  similar  work 
under  the  supervision  of  experts.  There  are  also  a few  strictly 
mechanical  shops,  or  more  correctly,  laboratories,  as  the  work  is 
done  with  models  and  not  with  full-sized  materials.  Altona  has  two 
of  these,  one  for  masons  and  bricklayers  and  one  for  carpenters  and 
builders.  Hamburg  has  the  same  and,  in  addition,  accommodates 
street  pavement  layers,  gutter  workers,  stone  setters,  clay  and 
plaster  workers. 

The  Altona  shops  are  located  in  two  small  rooms  in  the  cellar 
of  the  trade  school  and  are  directed  by  practical  men.  The  masons 
and  builders,  after  completing  the  course  in  drawing,  will  sketch 
in  the  rough  whatever  is  to  be  built:  walls,  bridges,  domes,  arches, 
ceilings,  columns,  various  methods  of  wall  joining,  buttresses  and 
chimney  work  and  other  essentials.  When  these  have  been  ap- 
proved they  are  drawn  to  scale  for  building.  With  these  drawings 
the  apprentice  descends  to  the  laboratory  and  with  miniature  bricks 
and  stones  proceeds  actually  to  construct  models  of  the  same.  A 
heavy  square  board  serves  as  foundation,  and  he  uses  mortar  and 
plaster  and  cuts  the  bricks  and  stones  exactly  as  in  actual  masonry. 
Wooden  scaffolding  is  built  up  for  central  dome  work  exactly  and 
to  the  scale  drawing  as  in  regular  construction ; upon  this  are  laid 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


15 


the  stones  or  bricks,  the  scaffolding  is  removed  and  tests  are  made 
of  the  building’s  stability.  A practical  sketch  in  color  is  made  of 
the  completed  work  and  the  model  is  torn  down  to  make  room  for 
the  next.  The  carpenters  and  builders  follow  precisely  the  same 
plan.  The  scale  drawing  of  window,  roof,  house  or  church  is  used 
in  the  workshop  for  the  construction  and  erection  of  every  indi- 
vidual beam  and  brace  that  would  enter  into  the  construction  of  a 
full-sized  building.  The  best  of  these  models  are  often  preserved 
and  become  the  permanent  stock  of  the  department. 

Either  of  the  above  courses,  with  its  allied  theory,  occupies  three 
years,  but  there  are  also  courses  of  three  half-years,  such  as  the 
one  for  street  pavement  layers.  This  course  is  also  based  upon 
drawing,  a finished  scale  sketch  being  made  of  every  new  subject. 
The  smallest  details  are  considered,  together  with  the  general  prin- 
ciples, and  we  find  lessons  on  the  various  methods  of  joining  at 
corners,  side  streets  entering  a main  street,  streets  crossing  at 
right  angles,  streets  entering  or  crossing  at  other  angles,  not  only 
carefully  drawn  to  show  the  proper  relations  between  the  various 
rows  of  bricks,  but  between  each  individual  brick  at  corners  or 
along  angular  joints.  The  students  are  set  to  find  small  defects 
in  drawing  as,  for  instance,  where  the  corners  of  more  than  three 
stones  come  together  in  one  joint,  or  where  the  lengths  of  the  stones 
on  a side  street  entering  at  an  angle  has  not  been  correctly  in- 
creased to  form  a rightangular  crossing  along  the  main  street. 
They  are  taught  circular  and  oval  construction  for  parking,  gutter 
work,  street  car  track  construction,  sewer  crossings  and  are  given 
the  reasons  underlying  every  phase  of  the  subject.  Thus  they  are 
taught  that  wagons  do  more  damage  to  pavements  when  mov- 
ing on  a turn  than  when  moving  straight  ahead.  These  drawings 
are  then  used  as  the  basis  of  laboratory  work  with  miniature  paving 
blocks  which  are  cut,  rounded  and  set  exactly  as  in  the  regular 
work. 

While  this  work  is  eminently  practical,  it  differs  from  the  mono- 
technic  trade  shops  in  that  the  work  done  there  is  actual  work  and 
may  be  placed  on  the  market  with  the  product  of  regular  shops. 
Of  these  schools  the  most  important  in  Hamburg  and  Altona  are 
those  for  glaziers,  barbers,  bakers,  upholsterers,  painters  and  book- 
binders. The  writer  has  a book  bound  in  black  morocco  leather 
lettered  in  gold  by  hand,  a product  of  the  Altona  bookbinders 
school  shop,  and  he  was  shaved  in  a very  creditable  manner  in  the 
barbers  practice  school. 


iO 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


As  has  been  said  before,  this  barbers  school  is  held  in  the  gym- 
nasium of  a girls  public  school.  Three  teachers,  practical  barbers, 
are  employed  from  5 to  7 each  evening  to  give  instruction  in  shav- 
ing and  hair  cutting,  and  a large  number  of  poor  children,  laborers 
and  others  desiring  a free  shave  or  hair  cut,  present  themselves  as 
laboratory  material.  So  numerous  are  these  that  many  are  turned 
away  each  evening  at  7 o’clock  unattended  to,  and  yet  a large  class 
of  busy  apprentices  have  been  working  two  hours  in  an  attempt 
to  serve  every  customer.  Promptly  at  5 o’clock  the  hall  is 
cleared  of  its  gymnasium  apparatus  which  the  apprentices  push 
back  into  regular  places  against  the  wall.  Simple,  unpainted,  long 
wooden  benches,  with  folding  legs,  are  then  set  up  in  two  parallel 
rows.  From  a wooden  cupboard  in  one  corner,  the  tools  and  aprons 
are  brought  out,  the  patrons  are  admitted,  seated  at  regular  intervals 
on  the  benches,  and  three  teachers  take  their  places  between  the 
rows  where  they  can  walk  up  and  down  watching  and  directing  the 
work  of  every  pupil.  The  master  gives  the  signal.  There  is  snip- 
ping of  shears  and  school  has  opened.  Shaving,  hair  cutting,  mus- 
tache and  beard  trimming  and  dressing  is  the  course  for  the  first 
year;  the  pupil  furnishes  his  own  apron,  shears  and  razor,  but  all 
the  other  utensils  are  owned  by  the  school.  At  the  close  of  the 
lesson  the  pupils  put  away  the  utensils  and  benches,  the  floor  is 
swept,  folding  tables  are  set  up  and  the  first  class  gives  way  to  the 
second,  the  wig  makers  and  hair  workers,  who  meet  from  7 to  9 
under  the  direction  of  four  or  five  experts.  Those  who  have  com- 
pleted the  second  year,  including  switch  work  and  hairdressing,  are 
also  present  from  7 to  9 learning  hair  singeing,  fancy  hair  and 
mustache  dressing.  The  work  in  wig  making  is  preceded  by  a 
special,  course  in  drawing.  The  general  principles  of  wig  making 
are  first  worked  out  on  the  .blackboard  before  the  class,  and  then 
applied  to  a particular  wig  by  the  students.  Each  student  finally 
makes  a scale  drawing  on  the  cloth,  cuts  this  out  as  a basis  for 
the  wig  and,  using  a dummy  head  furnished  by  the  school  and 
hair  paid  for  by  the  pupil,  proceeds  to  construct  a marketable 
wig,  working  under  the  direction  of  a teacher.  At  9 o’clock  every- 
thing is  returned  to  its  place ; when  the  hall  is  left  it  is  ready  for 
the  gymnastic  work  of  the  morrow.  These  pupils  come  one  night 
a week  to  the  trade-union  shop  and  visit  the  regular  continuation 
school  two  hours  per  week  for  theory;  there  are  172  of  them  and 
the  total  cost  is  about  $800  per  year,  or  $4.65  per  apprentice, 
divided  between  tuition,  city  and  trade-union  — not  a serious  finan- 
cial burden. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


1 7 


Besides  this  apprentice  school,  there  are  three  other  special 
schools  for  barbers,  one  for  journeymen  and  masters  in  woman’s 
hairdressing,  one  for  wig  making  only,  each  supported  by  its  special 
union,  and  finally  a school  for  master  barbers,  a three-year  course, 
which  can  not  be  attended  until  after  three  years’  experience  in 
a general  trade. 

One  other  workshop  which  has  come  into  existence  because 
the  introduction  of  piecework  has  narrowed  the  growth  of  the 
apprentice,  will  serve  to  illustrate  the  teaching  of  a purely  me- 
chanical trade.  This  is  the  trade  school  for  glaziers,  whose  home 
is  an  old  house.  The  theoretical  work  — German,  bookkeeping, 
drawing  and  trade  drawing,  citizenship  and  tradescraft  — are  taught 
in  the  public  continuation  school,  and  the  cutting  and  setting  of 
glass  to  any  measure  or  design,  setting  in  lead,  fancy  windows, 
picture  framing  and  designing  for  picture  or  window  work,  are 
taught  in  the  shop.  Professional  teachers  in  the  school  teach  the 
names  of  woods,  uses,  polishing,  importation  and  buying,  dura- 
bility and  adaptability  (bending,  etc.),  names  of  glass,  manu- 
facture, selection,  names  of  color,  buying  glass  and  stained  glass 
window  designing.  The  practical  teacher  in  the  shop  applies  this 
knowledge  as  soon  as  it  is  usable.  First,  a measurement  is  made 
to  fill  an  order,  then  a design  is  drawn,  a pattern  is  cut,  a com- 
pleted drawing  of  the  window  is  made  using  this  design,  it  is 
colored,  glass  is  selected  and  cut,  the  glass  is  then  set  in  lead, 
being  laid  exactly  over  the  corresponding  part  of  the  drawing, 
piece  by  piece,  until  the  whole  is  completed.  This  is  then  taken 
into'  the  framing  room  and  framed;  the  stained  glass  window  is 
complete.  This  work  has  been  done  in  three  rooms  on  the  top 
floor  of  an  old  house,  fitted  with  plain  benches,  glass  racks  and 
tool  chests;  inexpensive  homemade  apparatus  and  frames  are  used 
both  in  glass  and  woodworking  and  a lead  grooving  and  cutting 
machine  is  the  only  purchased  machinery  in  the  school. 

MODELS  AND  APPARATUS 

It  is  certainly  evident  by  this  time  that  these  schools  are  not 
given  to  large  quantities  of  expensive  apparatus.  The  benches, 
tables,  chairs,  cupboards  and  general  furnishings  of  the  glazier 
school  are  of  the  plainest  and  most  practical  patterns  like  those 
described  in  the  laboratories  of  Berliner  Thor,  and  the  models 
and  tools  are  very  generally  furnished  by  the  students  themselves. 
Models  for  such  classes  as  shipbuilders  are  bought  from  special 


1 8 NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 

firms  or  are  made  by  experts  after  drawings  furnished  by  the 
teachers,  and  the  drawing  models  for  certain  free-hand  work, 
stuffed  birds,  mounted  specimens  and  skeletons,  stencils,  wire 
plant-forms,  pressed  and  waxed  plants,  are  purchased  from  regular 
supply  houses.  These,  however,  are  but  a small  part  of  the  entire 
collection  of  models,  most  of  which  come  as  presents  from  the 
students.  Wooden  models  of  roof  work,  scaffolding,  bridge  work, 
towers,  houses  and  churches  are  made  by  the  pupils  and  presented 
to  the  school.  A few  apprentices  become  expert  enough  to  make 
the  finest  kind  of  ship  and  machine  models  in  their  outside  shops 
and  present  them  to  the  school.  One  exceptionally  bright  and 
ambitious  pupil  has  presented  his  school  with  a set  of  full-sized 
models  for  all  sorts  of  plumbing  work,  pipe  joining,  spouts,  eaves, 
etc.  which  he  had  made  working  overtime  in  the  shop  where  he  earns 
his  daily  bread.  Forms  in  iron  and  other  metal,  plaster,  clay  and 
wood,  paper  and  papier-mache  are  turned  out  easily  in  the  regular 
school  shops  whenever  desired,  and  this  continual  interchange 
of  interest,  one  shop  producing  for  another,  has  a material  educa- 
tional value  for  the  school  as  a whole. 

Maps  and  charts,  time  and  tariff  tables,  reports  and  blanks  for 
commercial  use  are  sometimes  bought  but  more  often  furnished 
free.  Such  charts,  for  example,  as  the  colored  charts  used  by 
the  butchers  classes,  must  be  purchased.  These  charts  give  all 
the  outlines  for  the  cutting  of  different  animals,  names  of  cuts, 
examples  on  cost,  expense  and  waste,  division  for  sale,  cost  of 
each  piece,  calculation  of  the  final  reckoning  of  gain  and  per  cent 
of  gain.  On  the  other  hand,  material  relating  to  the  government 
industry  and  large  private  companies  is  always  obtained  free, 
and  books,  papers,  blanks,  drawing  boards,  and  even  instruments, 
are  frequently  presented  to  the  school  by  masters,  trade-unions, 
book  companies,  firms  and  friends.  It  is  important  that  these 
charts,  price,  tables  and  business  forms  be  accurate  and  clear  and 
be  passed  upon  by  a committee  of  practical  men  because  they  are 
not  generally  used  in  the  monotechnic  schools,  but  in  the  regular 
continuation  school  classes. 

GENERAL  COURSE  OF  STUDY 

In  the  general  course  of  study  are  given  all  the  subjects  uni- 
formly prescribed  for  apprentices.  It  includes  German,  writing, 
arithmetic,  geometry,  algebra,  geometrical  construction,  trig- 
onometry, free-hand  drawing,  trade  drawing  for  machine  builders. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


19 


locksmiths,  plumbers,  mechanics,  and  the  building  trades,  circular 
drawing  and  projections,  bookkeeping,  commercial  law  and  elemen- 
tary drawing  for  unprepared  boys.  Each  of  these  subjects  is 
subdivided  and  applied  directly  to  the  work  of  the  different  trades. 
Thus  reading  and  writing  for  electricians  would  deal  with  the 
principles  and  history  of  electricity,  whereas  arithmetic  for  plumb- 
ers would  apply  the  fundamental  principles  to  specific  examples 
taken  from  the  plumbing  trade.  To  these  subjects  would  be  added 
various  details  agreed  upon  between  the  school  and  the  trade-union 
and  an  effort  would  be  made  to  have  each  separate  trade  in  a class 
by  itself. 

TRADES  REPRESENTED 

That  it  is  impossible  to  have  each  trade  in  a class  by  itself  in 
any  but  the  largest  cities,  will  be  easily  seen  by  a glance  at  the 
following  list  of  trades  represented  in  the  continuation  schools  of 
Hamburg  and  Altona,  and  at  the  second  list  showing  the  additional 
trades  often  found  in  the  artistic  trade  schools. 

The  trades  represented  are : asphalt  layer,  bandager,  barber, 
'hairdresser,  woodcarver,  cooper  and  caskmaker,  printer,  brush- 
maker,  chemical  dyer,  chemist,  electrician,  turner,  bicycle  builder, 
fine  mechanic,  optician,  gardener,  glazier,  glass  painter,  goldsmith 
and  silversmith,  jeweler,  engraver,  bucklemaker,  incandescent-film 
maker,  steam  fitter,  hatmaker,  tinker,  tinsmith,  candymaker,  cop- 
persmith, painter,  lacquerer,  leather  worker,  lithographer,  photog- 
rapher, photolithographer,  machine  builder,  mason,  gas  and  water 
plumber,  wire  drawer,  moulder  and  puddler,  modelmaker,  musi- 
cian, pianomaker,  tassel  and  fringe  maker,  saddler  and  strapmaker, 
boatbuilder,  plumber,  locksmith,  blacksmith,  tailor,  chimney  sweep, 
typemaker,  typesetter,  shoemaker,  sailmaker,  stone  lithographer, 
stonecutter,  stonemason,  wagonbuilder  and  wheelwright,  stuccoer 
and  plasterer,  upholsterer,  building  carpenter,  furniture  carpenter, 
cabinetmaker,  potter  and  over  setter,  watchmaker,  dentist,  cigar- 
maker,  brass  and  bronze  worker, 'apprentices  in  machine  shop,  fur- 
rier, apprentices  and  journeymen  in  tapestry  factories  and  gold 
woodwork  factories,  besides  the  vast  number  of  callings  repre- 
sented in  the  commercial  branches,  such  as  butcher,  grocer,  gen- 
eral merchant,  milkman,  hotel  employee,  messenger  boy,  ferryman, 
servant,  cook,  and  a hundred  other  lines  of  business.  In  the 
kunstgewerbeschule  are  found  sculptor,  tilemaker,  metal  chaser, 
wagon  decorator,  bookbinder,  worker  in  grilled  iron  and  kindred 
trades  on  the  borderland  between  the  artisan  and  the  artist. 


20 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


SCHOOL  HOURS  AND  PROGRAM 
Manifestly  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties  in  handling  students 
in  so  many  different  vocations  is  to  provide  a .satisfactory  daily 
program.  In  this  one  respect,  perhaps,  more  than  in  any  other 
the  school  consults  the  wishes  of  the  union  and  employers.  It  is 
a fundamental  principle  in  continuation  school  education  that  the 
apprentice  should  attend  school  partly  on  his  own  time,  that  is, 
evenings  and  Sundays,  and  partly  upon  time  allowed  him  by  his 
employer.  If  an  employer  is  sufficiently  interested  in  the  educa- 
tion of  his  apprentices  to  allow  them  two  or  four  hours  a week 
for  school  purposes,  he  will  be  equally  interested  in  the  school 
and  in  assuring  himself  that  the  subjects  therein  given  are  a suffi- 
cient return  for  the  time  and  money  expended.  It  is  easy  enough 
to  prepare  for  the  evening  and  Sunday  classes ; the  greatest  con- 
cern is  to  arrange  so  that  pupils  will  not  attend  day  and  evening 
classes  on  the  same  day  or  crowd  the  work  into  one  end  of  the 
week.  It  is  also  easy  to  arrange  for  those  pupils  who  attend  school 
all  day,  but  much  care  and  frequent  conferences  between  school- 
men and  employers  are  required  to  complete  a satisfactory  school 
program  for  apprentices  who  are  working  part  of  the  day  and 
evening  and  attending  school  as  well. 

The  head  trade  school  is  open  every  day  from  8 a.  m.  to  9 p.  m. 
and  from  8.30  to  12.30  Sunday  morning.  The  classes  held  in 
public  school  buildings  are  from  7 to  9 p.  m.  with  extra  classes 
from  5 to  6 and  6 to  7 in  certain  branches.  In  Altona  the  kunst- 
gewerbeschule  is  open  from  8 to  12  and  2 to  5 except  in  the  short 
winter  months,  and  from  9 to  12  and  1 to  4;  this  school  is  also 
open  evenings  from  5 to  7 and  from  7 to  9,  and  Sundays  from 
8 to  12  o’clock  noon.  The  gewerbeschule  holds  classes  from  7 a.  m. 
to  9 p.  m.  although  the  desire  of  the  Prussian  minister  is  to  have 
no  classes  after  8 o’clock  in  the  evening.  The  commercial  continua- 
tion school  in  Altona  has  classes  Monday,  Tuesday,  Thursday  and 
Friday  from  2 to  5 p.  m.  and  every  evening. 

The  care  that  is  taken  to  secure  the  best  distribution  ‘of  classes 
between  these  hours  largely  determines  the  success  of  the  school. 
Thus  the  locksmiths  and  similar  trades  attending  8 hours  weekly 
go  two  evenings  from  6 to  8 and  Sundays  from  8.30  to  12.30,  the 
employers  excusing  them  early  two  days  of  the  week,  but  being 
unwilling  to  allow  more  time.  The  plumbers  and  allied  trades- 
men excuse  their  apprentices  one  day  a week  at  3 o’clock  rather 
than  break  into  two  days.  These  pupils  are  in  class  from  3 to  7 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA  21 

one  day,  and  Sunday  from  8.30  a.  m.  to  12.30  p.  m.  Again,  younger 
toy  apprentices  who  naturally  grow  tired  near  the  close  of  the  day 
and  are  unable  to  stand  both  day  and  evening  work,  are  excused 
to  attend  school  evenings  from  5 to  7,  and  certain  workers  in  a 
large  tapestry  factory  who  are  not  excused  till  6 p.  m.  attend  from 
6.15  to  8.15.  The  nature  of  the  vocation  and  its  business  hours 
must  also  be  taken  into  account.  Thus  the  carpenters,  who  work 
from  7.30  a.  m.  to  6 p.  m.  at  manual  labor,  can  attend  school  from 
7 to  9,  whereas  the  watchmakers  working  at  a bench,  or  the  book- 
keeper and  clerk,  must  be  allowed  some  classes  in  the  daytime.  In 
the  same  way  a messenger  boy,  who  is  out  of  doors  all  day,  should 
be  given  more  evening  classes  than  a shopboy  or  hotel  boy  who 
remains  indoors,  and  the  classes  for  the  hotel  boy  should  be  ar- 
ranged in  the  morning  when  there  is  usually  a lull  in  the  business 
and  those  of  the  shopboy,  as  for  instance,  grocer  or  fish  handler, 
should  come  early  in  the  afternoon  when  they  can  best  be  spared. 
A milk  handler  would  naturally  object  to  sending  his  boy  in  the 
morning;  a caterer  would  as  naturally  refuse  to  send  his  waiters 
from  5 to  7 or  7 to  9 in  the  evening.  The  butchers  in  Hamburg 
objected  to  Monday,  Tuesday  and  Saturday  school  for  their  ap- 
prentices, as  they  are  market  days,  and  their  wishes  were  immedi- 
ately acceded  to ; the  cafe  men  requested  school  on  Monday,  it 
being  their  poorest  day.  Again,  the  school  authorities  desired 
•classes  for  tinkers  two  days  in  the  week  from  5 to  7,  but  deferred 
to  the  wishes  of  the  master  tinkers  who'  preferred  one  day  from 
3 to  7 because  their  boys  never  worked  well  on  the  days  they 
were  excused  early.  Not  only  does  the  hour  and  the  day  enter 
into  consideration,  but  also  the  time  of  year.  Thus,  the  carpenters 
and  masons  wished  school  from  4 to  9 in  winter  only,  when  it 
becomes  dark  at  4 p.  m.  The  school  authorities  conceded  12  hours 
per  week  in  winter  and  6 hours  per  week  in  summer,  but  this  was  not 
accepted.  A large  meeting  of  workers  had  been  called  to  discuss 
this  subject  but  the  question  had  not  been  decided  when  this  report 
closed.  There  are  a few  tradesmen,  such  as  street  pavement  layers 
and  gardeners,  who  have  nothing  to  do  in  the  winter  and  ought  to 
confine  their  schooling  to  certain  months,  but  that  these  are  few 
will  be  readily  seen  by  the  total  number  of  hours  devoted  to  con- 
tinuation school  instruction.  There  were  1184  hours  so  spent  in 
winter  and  1052  in  summer,  there  being  3447  winter  pupils  and  2911 


in  summer. 


22 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


INTERNAL  DIVISIONS  AND  JOINED  CLASSES 
In  order  to  provide  classes  at  the  various  hours  necessary  and  to 
increase  proficiency  by  classifying  students  according  to  their  abili- 
ties, the  classes  as  far  as  possible  are  divided  into  sections  of 
students  showing  different  degrees  of  aptitude.  Thus  the  tinsmiths 
are  divided  into  four  classes  for  theoretical  work  according  to 
their  abilities  and  previous  education,  while  coppersmiths,  watch- 
makers, etc.  set  their  own  pace  by  the  quickness  with  which  they 
complete  their  work,  and  soon  divide  into  a large  number  of  groups. 
After  the  first  six  months  the  drawing  classes  are  very  largely 
determined  by  the  ability  and  tastes  of  the  apprentices,  while  in 
the  upper  classes  the  free-hand  drawing  is  entirely  individual,  as 
it  is  also  in  such  technical  drawing  as  patternmaking  except  that 
the  same  designs  are  repeated.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  a 
large  number  of  combined  classes,  either  because  there  are  not 
sufficient  students  in  one  vocation  to  fill  a class  or  because  the 
work  is  the  same  for  several  different  trades.  We  find  a united 
class  of  factory  workers,  railroad  men,  iron  workers,  moulders 
and  puddlers,  boiler  workers,  etc.  joined  for  German  and  arith- 
metic, joined  in  the  general  principles  of  tradesoraft  but  taught 
its  particular  application  in  separate  divisions,  and  entirely  sepa- 
rated for  drawing.  Glaziers,  tapestry  workers  and  upholsterers, 
wall  paper  makers,  art  masons,  painters,  and  others  are  joined 
for  drawing.  The  free-hand  work  from  models,  mounted  speci- 
mens, and  skins,  conventionalizing  the  same,  stencil  cutting  and 
general  design  are  taught  in  common.  Transferring  this  design 
to  wall  paper,  plaster,  glass,  cutting  in  wood  or  stone,  frescoing, 
curtain  tapestry  and  carpet  designing  and  all  such  special  work 
is  done  in  separate  groups,  even  smaller  than  the  trade  class.  The 
masons  and  carpenters  have  arithmetic,  German  and  citizenship 
together,  while  masons,  stonesetters  and  pavement  layers  go  still 
further,  having  plane,  square  and  cubic  measure,  measurements 
of  fields  and  plots,  amounts  of  dirt  removed  or  needed  for  leveling, 
grading,  dips  and  terraces,  work  surrounding  irregular  areas,  ponds, 
parks,  park  walks  and  walls  identically  the  same  in  all  trades. 
Bakers  and  butchers  have  theoretical  work  in  common,  but  the 
designing  of  cakes,  candies,  imitation  fruits,  etc.  has  no  value  for 
any  trade  but  that  for  bakers  and  must  be  taught  to  them  alone.  In 
this  manner  the  whole  course  of  study  is  built  up,  the  classes  are 
joined  or  divided,  and  their  places  in  the  daily  program  determined. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


23 


COURSE  OF  STUDY 

It  should  be  of  particular  interest  to- know  exactly  what  such 
a finished  course  of  study  is  like,  that  is,  exactly  what,  to  the 
smallest  details,  is  considered  important  in  the  wider  building  or 
apprentices  in  continuation  schools.  It  would  be  nearly  impossible 
and  certainly  useless  to  give  a large  number  of  courses  of  study; 
but  no  better  way  can  be  found  of  gaining  a general  understanding 
of  the  work  and  ideals  pervading  a German  continuation  school 
than  to  study  carefully  a few  typical  courses  of  study.  For  this 
purpose  four  courses  are  presented  here:  the  general  six-months 
course  in  drawing  that  precedes  and  forms  the  background  for 
all  mechanical  work;  the  course  laid  out  in  Altona  for  carpenters, 
as  representative  of  the  ordinary  trades ; the  Hamburg  course  for 
decorative  painters,  as  representative  of  the  artistic  trade ; and  a 
course  for  grocers,  representing  the  commercial  branches.  The 
first  of  these  courses  was  made  out  especially  for  this  report  by 
the  drawing  teacher,  Herr  Knobloch ; the  second  and  third  are 
copies  of  private  courses  made  for  this  purpose  through  the  kind- 
ness of  Director  Trenkner  and  Inspector  Hasten,  and  the  last  is 
taken  directly  from  an  annual  report.  The  courses,  which  were 
all  in  German  and  contained  many  technical  words  and  expres- 
sions, have  been  translated  rather  to  give  the  reader  a clear  and 
definite  idea  of  the  aim  of  the  whole  instruction  than  to  offer  a 
course  for  adoption  or  an  English  translation  of  German  mechan- 
ical terms. 

PRELIMINARY  COURSE  FOR  BOYS 

Circle  drawing.  The  subjects  of  Lachner’s  first  book  and  in 
addition  direct  and  oblique  projection  of  a few  other  bodies  and 
a few  joined  bodies.  Free-hand  drawing.  Drawing  and  painting 
of  plants,  flowers,  fruits,  stuffed  animals  and  perspective  portrayal 
of  different  subjects. 

This  teaching  is  both  class  and  individual. 

TRADE  DRAWING  FOR  THE  BUILDING  TRADES 

First  or  elementary  step 

A Geometrical  constructions 
1 Polygon  construction 

Pentagon,  in  circle  of  given  radius  upon  a given  line  as 
a side 

Hexagon,  in  a circle 

Nine  and  fifteen-sided  figure,  in  a circle 


24 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


Heptagon,  in  circle  of  given  radius  upon  given  line  as 
a side 

Octagon,  in  a circle  of  given  radius  upon  given  line  as 
a side 

2 » The  circle  (radius,  diameter,  semicircle,  quadrant,  secant, 
chord,  tangent,  sector  and  segment) 

3 Curves 

The  ellipse  (length  of  both  axes  given;  use  the  four 
constructions) 

The  parabola 
The  hyperbola 

The  spiral  of  Archimedes  and  the  Ionic  spiral 
The  “ evolvente  ” 

The  oval 

The  cycloid  curve 
The  characteristic  arch  curves 
Semicircle  arch 
Flattened  or  shallow  arch 
Higher  arch 
Pointed  arch 
High  pointed  arch 

Depressed  arch  (arch  under  pressure),  three  con- 
structions 

Tudor  arch  or  depressed  pointed  arch,  two  con- 
structions 

Arch  of  one  base,  two  constructions 
Cornice  arch,  the  donkey-back 
Round  and  pointed  horseshoe  arches 
B Gothic  measurement  forms 
i Fish  bladder 
“ Passe  ” or  yoke 
Horns 

C Divisions  of  architectural  plates  and  their  arrangement  accord- 
ing to  size  and  importance 

1 Rectilineal 

Small  plate,  nut,  plate,  groove,  rabbit 

2 Curvilinear 

Rivets,  bolts,  grooves,  quarter  bolt 
Moulding,  grooved  ledge,  trochilus 
D Familiarizing  the  students  with  the  use  of  various  measure- 
ments and  units  of  measure 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


25 


E Free-hand  drawing  from  models 

1 Frieze,  corner  pieces,  rosettes  etc. 

2 Various  wood  joints 

F Technical  script,  block  type  with  “ quellstoft,’’  cork,  crayon 
and  brush 

Second  or  middle  step 

Masons  and  carpenters  have  separate  instruction 
Representative  geometrical  principles  from  trade  models,  avoid- 
ing deeper  scientific  principles  and  reasonings 
A For  middle  and  upper  step 

1 Prism,  cylinder,  pyramid,  rule,  spindle,  conssinet 

2 Combination  of  the  above  forms 

3 Intersections  of  these  forms 

4 Truncation 

5 Cross  sections 

6 Isometric  and  axeometric  representations 

7 Practical  applications  and  uses 

8 Development  of  curved  stairways 

9 Roof  work 

10  Frequent  modeling  in  cardboard 
B Division  for  masons 

1 Measurements  of  the  normal  German  brick  (three- 

quarters,  top  piece,  quarter,  large  and  small  building 
brick) 

Note.  The  following  examples  should  first  be  laid  out  or  built  up  by  using  small 
model  bricks,  sketched,  and  afterwards,,  when  necessary,  clean  finished  drawings  made. 
In  the  latter  process  many  important  points  may  be  brought  to  the  students’  notice. 

2 Running  layers,  binding  layers,  rounding  layers,  plain  and 

cross  binding  or  joining,  and  most  important  of  all, 
Polish,  Hollandish,  English  and  Gothic  joining 

3 Finishing  off  a wall  end  with  three-quarter  brick 

4 Finishing  off  a wall  end  with  binding  brick 

5 The  right  angle  wall  corner 

Binding  with  three-quarter  brick 
Binding  with  large  and  small  building  brick 

6 A partition  wall  joined  at  right  angles  to  a front  wall  by 

three-quarter  brick  and  by  building  brick 

7 Two  walls  crossing  at  right  angles 

8 The  walls  join  to  form  an  obtuse  angle 

9 The  walls  join  to  form  an  acute  angle 

10  Pillars  — right  angled,  eight  angled,  round 

Columns,  models  and  patterns 

11  Chimney  building  and  ventilator  work 


26 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


C Division  for  carpenters 

i  Wood  joining 

To  lengthen  a timber,  blunt,  oblique  and  obtuse  joints, 
with  cramp  iron  or  bracket  and  splint,  with  straight 
blade,  hooked  blade,  oblique  blade,  ridged  blade,  di- 
rect hooked  blade  with  oblique  cut,  swallowtail  with 
parapet 

Crossing  — simple  overlaying  and  cutting 
End  joining  — oblique  blade,  hooked  blade,  one-sided 
swallowtail  form  blade,  swallowtail  blade  with  para- 
pet, oblique  tenon,  breast  mortise 
Corner  joints  — oblique  corner  blade  and  hooked  bind- 
ing, horizontal  binding  at  right  angles,  mortise  and 
tenon,  hooked  mortise  and  tenon 
Joining  of  a horizontal  beam  into  one  standing 
obliquely,  mortise  and  tenon,  swallowtail  with 
pincer  mortise 

Joining  an  oblique  lying  beam  into  one  perpendicular 
and  one  horizontal,  the  gun  mortise 
Joining  two  oblique  lying  beams,  razor  mortise  and 
tenon 

Dressing  of  wood 

Third  or  upper  step 
A Division  for  masons 

1 Facing  of  tile,  quarry  stone  and  broken-stone  walls 

2 Building  of  cornices  and  mantels 

3 .Frame  construction 

Building  of  door  and  window  openings 

4 Construction  of  simple  arch  and  vault  work 

The  Prussian  capping,  cylindrical  vault 
Bohemian  vault,  the  cross  vault  (groined  arch) 

5 Scaffold  work  and  frame  construction 

Advance  students  can  be  employed  with  the  following: 

6 Developing  working  drawings  for  simple  buildings,  stalls, 

sheds  and  godowns,  outbuildings  and  additions,  work- 
man’s houses,  etc.  from  sketches  of  ground  plan,  front 
elevation  and  cross  section 
B Division  for  carpenters 

1 Simple  and  complex  roof  timbering  and  reinforcement 

2 Simple  and  complex  explosive  and  mine  timbering 

3 Simple  and  complex  cranes 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


27 


4 Beam  joining  and  dovetailing  from  sketches 

5 Representation  of  wood  and  iron  framework  in  walls 

from  previously  given  building  drawings 

6 Sketching  to  measure  to  details  of  beam  construction 

7 Roof  construction,  saddle  roof,  peak,  mortise  work,  man- 

sard, desk-top  roof,  Holland  roof 

8 Simple  stairway  construction 

The  instruction  is  divided  into  four  successive  classes  as  follows : 
elementary  step,  class  4,  or  first  school  year;  middle  step,  classes  3 
and  2,  second  and  third  school  year;  upper  step,  class  1,  fourth 
school  year. 

In  the  winter  semester  there  is  six  hours  instruction  weekly,  two 
hours  constructive  drawing  or  descriptive  geometry,  four  hours 
trade  drawing,  with  two  hours  modeling  included. 

Many  industrious  students,  in  extra  classes,  take  6 to  8 hours 
general  and  trade  drawing  weekly  in  addition  to  the  required 
course,  and  6 to  8 hours  summer  drawing  course. 

Note.  In  the  third  and  fourth  school  year  two  hours  per  week  are  set  aside  for  model 
ing  and  model  making. 

COURSE  FOR  CARPENTER  AND  JOINER 

The  carpenters  are  instructed  in  three  successive  classes,  first, 
middle  and  advanced  step,  in  each  of  which  the  necessary  parallel 
classes  are  organized.  The  entire  course  covers  four  years,  and 
the  subjects  are  as  follows:  trade  science  and  citizenship,  German, 
arithmetic,  geometry,  and  in  middle  and  upper  classes,  bookkeeping. 
From  the  school  time  two  hours  weekly  is  to  be  devoted  to  trade 
science  and  citizenship,  together  with  German,  and  two  hours 
weekly  to  arithmetic,  geometry  and  bookkeeping.  Besides  the  above, 
every  class  must  have  at  least  two  hours  weekly  of  instruction  in 
drawing. 

First  or  elementary  step 

A Trade  science  and  citizenship.  The  instruction  in  these  sub- 
jects shall  make  the  student  familiar  with  all  his  rights  and  duties 
as  a trade  worker,  citizen  of  the  city  and  of  the  state  and  shall 
familiarize  him  with  all  tools  and  working  utensils,  materials  and 
trade  customs.  In  every  class  about  one-half  hour  per  week  is  to 
be  devoted  to  this  work,  which  may  be  materially  advanced  by 
combining  it  with  reading  instruction.  The  main  points  are  as 
follows : 

1 City  statutes,  school  ordinances  for  trade  continuation  schools, 
the  labor  book,  the  time  of  instruction,  teaching  relations  and  con- 


28 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


tracts  with  trades,  social  and  political  history  of  the  legislation  of 
the  German  Empire,  blessings  and  efficiency  of  workers’  insurance 
laws,  general  handling  of  sick  insurance  and  accident  protective 
orders  for  woodworkers.  Review  of  the  entire  subject. 

2 General  discussion  of  the  carpenter  shop.  The  outfit,  lighting, 
heating,  cleaning,  general  rules  of  protection  against  fire  and  acci- 
dent, first  aid  to  the  injured  and  other  accident  assistance.  The 
Samaritan  Society  and  Red  Cross. 

3 Important  points  in  the  teaching  of  good  health  from  the 
pamphlet  on  health  and  treatment  of  tuberculosis  and  alcoholism. 

4 The  wood.  The  tree  and  its  parts,  trunk,  planting  and  growing 
of  trees,  the  decay  and  felling  of  trees,  rafts,  gums,  transportation. 
Working  the  trunk  up  into  whole  timber  and  cut  timber,  planks, 
boards,  beams,  laths  and  veneer.  The  woods  used  by  the  building 
and  furniture  carpenter.  The  following  to  be  noted  especially: 
pine,  kiefer  or  fir,  common  red  pine  or  hemlock,  white  and  silver 
pine,  larch  pine,  yew,  pitch  pine.  Leaved  trees : oak,  maple,  ash, 
beech,  birch,  silver  birch,  elm,  chestnut,  walnut,  pear,  linden, 
alder,  poplar,  redwood,  mahogany,  acasia  and  ebony.  The  greatest 
importance  in  discussing  the  above  is  to  be  laid  on  the  following 
points : characteristics  by  which  each  may  be  recognized,  peculiar- 
ities, where  grown,  trade  and  transportation,  price,  physical  and 
chemical  property,  form  and  density,  pliability  for  bending  and 
rigidity,  wearing  qualities,  resistance  to  water,  air  and  fire,  color, 
smell  and  heating  power. 

5 Weakness  and  sickness  of  wood,  external  and  internal  growths, 
knots,  double  splint,  cuts  and  fissures,  boils,  red,  white,  limb,  and 
ring  rot,  spots,  weathering  and  wormholes. 

6 The  wood-injuring  insects  and  other  enemies  of  wood:  bugs, 
beetles,  psilura  monacha,  mushrooms,  parasites. 

7 Other  work  material  of  the  carpenter:  glue,  alcohol,  shellac, 
oil,  lacquer  and  oil  colors,  stain  varnish,  sandpaper  and  other 
smoothing  material,  polish,  cement,  putty,  veneer  and  artistic  veneer. 

8 The  administration  of  the  city  of  Altona,  history,  business 
and  trade  conditions  of  the  city  from  the  textbooks  of  Hoft  Ehlres 
and  Trenkner. 

B German 

i Reading.  The  instruction  is  based  upon  the  reading  book  of 
Schmarje  and  Trenkner  and  the  Trade  Reading  Book  for  Wood- 
workers. It  is  the  object  of  this  work  in  reading  to  advance  the 
following : preparation  for  intelligent  reading,  mind  and  character 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


29 


building,  love  of  Fatherland  and  to  enliven  and  enlarge  the  scope 
of  other  branches  of  instruction,  especially  tradescraft  and  citizen- 
ship, as  before  mentioned.  In  the  Schmarje-Trenkner  book,  selec- 
tions for  the  elementary  step  may  be  made  from  the  following 
articles : 

a In  the  province  of  religious  life  and  custom: 
no.  31  Child  thankfulness  and  ungratefulness 
no.  32  You  shall  love  and  obey  your  parents 
no.  43  If  all  should  come  right 
no.  54  For  my  son 
b From  nature  study: 

no.  56  Wood  and  its  history 

no.  8i  The  lamp,  past  and  present 

no.  83  Petroleum 

c For  knowledge  of  lands  and  their  people,  Fatherland  and 
home  city: 

no.  64  Joachim  Nettelbeck 
no.  24  How  Altona  was  founded 
no.  26  Der  schwedenbrant  in  Altona 
d From  the  work: 
no.  1 14  Work 

e The  calling  and  its  standing: 
no.  40  Choosing  a trade 
no.  45  The  best  letter  of  recommendation 
f Handwork,  industry  and  knowledge : 

no.  30  What  a good  hand  workman  may  become 
no.  93  The  handworkers’  apprentice 
g Trade  and  exchange: 

no.  42  My  first  ride  on  the  railway 
no.  107  On  the  harbor  in  Hamburg 
no.  108  The  Altona  fish  traffic 
h Health  and  welfare: 

no.  71  The  man  with  the  machine 
no.  72  The  dwelling  of  man  and  the  air 
no.  73  About  food 
no.  74  Washing  and  bathing 
i The  state  and  statescraft: 

no.  100  Laws  for  the  protection  of  the  German  laborer  and 
their  effect 

From  the  trade  reading  book  for  the  building  trades  the  follow- 
ing may  be  selected : 


30 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


no.  8 With  the  different  woods 
no.  9 The  oak  and  the  storm 

no.  io  Felling,  drying  and  seasoning  and  cutting  of  wood 
no.  12  Worm-eaten  wood 

2 Grammar  and  spelling  instruction 

Note.  This  instruction  is  to  be  given  at  every  opportunity’in  connection  with  reading 
and  with  the  preparation  and  correction  of  written  work.  In  addition,  the  following  sub- 
jects are  to  be  especially  drilled. 

a Inflection  of  nouns  in  connection  with  the  three  articles  of 
gender,  the  possessive  and  demonstrative  pronouns  and 
indefinite  numerals 
b Inflection  of  nouns  with  adjectives 
c Inflection  of  personal  pronouns 
d Practice  with  prepositions 

( 1 ) Accusative 

(2)  Dative  (aus,  bei,  mit,  etc.) 

(3)  Genitive  (wahrend,  wegen) 

(4)  Dative  and  accusative  with  and  without  the  meaning  of 

space 

e Practice  with  a few  of  the  most  common  governing  adjectives 
/ Forming  the  passive  of  verbs 
g Practice  with  few  important  transitive  verbs 
h Reflexive  verbs  (sich,  with  the  accusative) 
i Practice  with  impersonal  verbs  governing  the  accusative 
j Practice  with  intransitive  verbs  governing  the  dative 
k Reflexive  verbs  governing  the  dative  (sicherlauben,  etc.) 

/ Impersonal  verbs  governing  the  dative 

in  Verbs  governing  the  accusative  of  the  thing  and  dative  of 
the  person 

11  Dass,  das  zu  senden,  zusenden,  etc. 

3 Written  work 

Every  week  a corrected  and  rewritten  composition.  The  work 
shall  include  private  letter  writing,  simple  business  letters  and 
correspondence  and  the  simplest  coast,  railroad  and  mercantile 
formulas  according  to  the  following  plan : 

a Master  carpenter  G opens  a business;  write  an  advertisement 
circular 

b He  seeks  through  the  newspaper  to  hire  an  apprentice  who 
shall  apply  in  person  with  his  school  certificate  and  a 
sketch  of  his  life,  written  by  himself ; write  the  adver- 
tisement 

c The  student  shall  write  a sketch  of  his  own  life 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


31 


d The  master  notifies  the  trade  continuation  school  and  state 
sick  insurance  authorities  of  his  employment  of  this  ap- 
prentice 

c The  apprentice  writes  a letter  to  his  parents 
/ The  master  recommends  himself  to  the  public  through  the 
newspapers 

g He  seeks  a journeyman  through  newspaper  advertisement ; 
the  advertisement  and  the  journeyman’s  letter  to  the  office 
of  the  paper 

h Journeyman’s  letter  of  application 
i The  master  orders  wares,  material  and  tools  - 
j The  merchant  fills  out  the  order : 

(1)  bill  of  lading;  (2)  accompanying  letter;  (3)  bill 
k Answer  of  the  master  upon  receipt  of  the  goods;  letter  of 
acknowledgment 

1 The  master  sends  the  amount  of  the  bill  by  mail ; post  and 

money  orders 

m The  apprentice  congratulates  his  father  on  his  birthday 
n Customer  A sends  order  by  letter  to  Master  G 
o Master  answers  upon  receipt  of  the  order 
p Master  G sends  the  wares  ordered  (see  topic  /) 
q The  customer  acknowledges  receipt  of  the  wares 
r The  apprentice  sends  washing  home ; packet  post  rules 
s After  long  interval  he  begs  for  the  return  of  his  washing; 
post  card 

t Customer  B orders  by  mail 

u Master  seeks  from  A information  concerning  the  business 
standing  of  B 
v Answer  of  customer  A 
w Master  G fills  out  the  order 
x B is  not  satisfied ; he  complains 
y Master  G answers  the  complaint 

2 G’s  demand  for  payment 
aa  Answer  to  the  same 

bb  Second  demand  for  payment 
cc  B sends  part  payment 

(1)  money  order;  (2)  accompanying  letter 
dd  Receipt  for  the  amount  paid 
ee  B sends  the  remainder;  receipt  in  full 

//  G must  move  his  store;  moving-van  agent  H applies  for  the 
job 


32 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


gg  Circular  stating  the  change  of  business  address 
hh  Master  G needs  more  capital  to  enlarge  his  business 
(i)  note;  (2)  security 
ii  A journeyman  leaves  his  employ 

(1)  workbook;  (2)  recommendation 
jj  G writes  to  an  employment  agency  for  a new  man ; post  card 
with  attached  answer 

kk  The  apprentice  has  holiday  leave  and  notifies  his  parents  of 
his  coming 

11  He  writes  from  home  requesting  his  master  to  extend  his 
leave 

C Arithmetic  and  geometry 

Every  mathematics  period  begins  with  mental  arithmetic.  The 
subjects  for  work  in  written  arithmetic  must  relate  to  the  car- 
penters trade  in  every  possible  way  and  extend  to  the  addition 
and  subtraction  of  simple  and  complex  numbers,  the  four  funda- 
mental operations  in  simple,  common  and  decimal  fractions,  prac- 
tice in  arithmetical  rules,  easy  examples  in  percentage  and  interest. 
The  German  systems  of  counting,  money,  measure  and  weights, 
are  to  be  especially  emphasized.  Every  quarter  there  are  to  be 
two  class  examinations  in  arithmetic,  corrected  and  rewritten. 
Lessons  on  reduced  scales  of  measurement  and  transferring  from 
one  scale  to  another.  Angles  and  their  measurements.  The  tri- 
angle, its  various  kinds,  properties  and  measurements.  Completion 
of  the  geometrical  construction  lessons,  1 to  103.  Every  quarter 
two  lessons  in  finished  geometrical  drawing. 

Second  or  middle  step 
A Trade  science  and  citizenship 

1 Tools  and  machines  in  carpenter  shopwork.  The  bench 
and  the  bench  tools,  the  ordinary  tools  and  work  appliances, 
the  power-supplying  machinery,  gearing  and  transmitting  ma- 
chinery and  the  working  machines.  Refer  in  these  connections 
to  the  division,  descriptions,  relations,  prices,  uses,  handling 
and  operation  and  those  physical  laws  which  are  concerned  in 
their  working.  Care  in  the  use  of  tools  and  operation  of  ma- 
chinery, first  aid  to  the  injured,  accident  policies  of  the  wood- 
workers trades-union  are  important. 

2 Review  of  the  work  in  materials,  first  step  d and  g.  The 
materials  which  are  used  for  polishing  and  beautifying  wood 
surfaces  and  those  used  for  binding  and  gluing  purposes. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


33 


3 The  by-products  of  wood;  resin,  oil,  coal,  charcoal  burn- 
ing and  other  methods  of  producing  charcoal. 

4 Divisions  of  woodworking;  planing,  graining,  staining  and 
coloring,  polishing,  painting  and  lacquering,  waxing  and  rub- 
bing, imitations  etc.  With  this  also  comes  the  description  and 
the  nature  and  purpose  of  the  above  operations. 

5 Most  complete  description  of  the  purpose,  efficiency  and 
operation  of  the  different  wood  joinings,  according  to  the  width 
and  length  of  material.  Joining  of  frames  and  panels.  Corner 
joints  in  one  plane  and  in  two  planes. 

6 Short  discussion  of  ornamental  forms,  their  origin  and 
uses.  Convex  moldings,  quarter  round,  quarter  concave,  full 
round,  groove,  cornice,  small  plate,  plate,  the  crumpled  corner, 
rosettes  and  buttons,  diamond  square,  columns  and  pillars,  pil- 
laster,  and  furniture  feet. 

7 Discussion  of  normal  measurements  for  table,  chairs,  cup- 
boards, etc. 

8 Handwork  in  eariler  times,  the  organization  of  trades  in 
the  neighborhood,  and  the  history  of  the  state’s  trade  ordinances. 

9 The  laws  pertaining  to  trade  insurance  and  workman’s  in- 
surance and  the  regulations  concerning  trade  protection  and 
tradesman’s  protection. 

10  The  journeyman’s  examination,  the  journeyman,  the 
workman’s  contract. 

11  The  government  of  the  kreis  (governmental  districts) 
province  and  state. 

B German 

i Reading.  From  the  reading  book  of  Schmarje  and 
Trenkner,  the  following  pieces  are  for  selection: 

a In  the  province  of  social  and  religious  life : 
no'.  29  From  “ The  greeting  ” 
no.  103  The  hole  in  the  sleeve 
no.  1 12  One  man — one  word 
b From  nature  study: 

no.  84  Fire  and  burning 

no.  85  What  is  a chemical  union? 

no.  1 18  Anthracite  coal 

no.  1 19  Iron 


34 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


c Countries,  people,  homeland  and  native  village: 

no.  63  Life  in  a German  city  in  the  middle  of  the 
1 8th  century 

no.  67  War  pictures  from  the  year  1813 
no.  132  Emperor  Frederick  III 
d From  the  work: 

no.  1 15  The  workman’s  pay 
no.  124  Trade  intercourse  and  partnership 
e Calling  and  position  or  rank: 

no.  27  Benjamin  Franklin  to  a young  friend 
no.  39  John  Maynard 
/ Handwork,  industry  and  skill : 

no.  4 Agriculture  and  handwork  among  the  old 
Germans 

no.  17  The  handworker  tradesman  in  olden  times 
no.  90  The  lesson  of  handwork 
no.  92  Why  must  the  independent  handworker  learn 
to  keep  books? 
g Trade  and  exchange: 

no.  10  Board  of  Trade 
no.  38  Development  of  steam  navigation 
no.  78  German  trade  life  at  the  beginning  of  the  19th 
century 

li  Health  and  welfare : 
no.  75  Bacteria 
no.  77  A false  friend 
i The  state  and  statescraft : 

no.  100  The  laws  relating  to  the  protection  of  the 
German  laborer  and  their  practice 
no.  109  Concerning  the  state 
no.  no  Rights  and  duties  of  the  citizen 
no.  70  Trade  courts  and  businessmen’s  courts 
no.  in  Extracts  from  history  of  state  trade  laws 
From  the  trade  reading  book  for  the  building  trades  select: 
no.  7 “ Urwaldfrieden  ” 
no.  13  The  house  sponge 
no.  43  The  cabinetmaker 

2 Grammatical  and  spelling  instruction.  Review  and  en- 
largement on  the  work  for  the  elementary  step;  simple  punc- 
tuation. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


35 


3 Written  work.  A short  written  lesson  once  a week.  So- 
cial letters,  business  correspondence,  various  formulas,  peti- 
tions and  requests  to  governing  boards.  At  this  time  original 
compositions  and  articles  relating  to  specific  branches  of 
tradescraft  and  citizenship  may  be  expected  of  the  student. 

The  teaching'  plan  for  written  work  is  as  follows : 

a Master  carpenter  F opens  a business.  Pupils  will  write 
advertisement  circulars;  notice  to  the  authorities 
b He  orders  wood  from  a lumber  dealer.  The  order; 
the  addressed  envelope 

c The  lumber  dealer  accepts  the  commission.  Record  of 
acceptance,  answer  to  the  order 
d He  sends  the  lumber.  Bill  of  lading  with  return  re- 
ceipt attached ; accompanying  letter,  items  and  bill ; 
receipt;  freight  order 

e The  carpenter  sends  money.  Letter  regarding  pay- 
ment; post  money  order 

/ Customer  A orders  some  furniture  from  the  carpenter. 
Order 

g The  dealer  advises  with  a business  friend  concerning  A. 

Letter  asking  for  this  information 
h The  business  friend  answers.  Letter 
i The  order  can  not  be  filled  at  the  appointed  time.  Let- 
ter of  apology 

j The  apprentice  is  released  because  of  chronic  illness. 
Notice  of  illness  and  release  sent  to  the  continuation 
school,  to*  the  treasurer  for  the  sick  and  to  the  in- 
surance authorities  for  aged  and  individuals 
k Apprentice  D takes  up  the  apprenticeship.  Notice  to 
the  continuation  school,  treasurer  for  the  sick  and 
aged  and  invalids’  insurance  company.  Contract ; 
workbook 

/ The  apprentice  sends  washing  home.  Packet  post  and 
address 

m The  goods  sent  A do  not  suit.  Letter  of  complaint 
n Answer  to  the  same 

o Customer  B fails  to  make  payment.  First  and  second 
request  for  payment;  collection  by  post 
p The  master  moves  his  business.  Circular  of  notice; 

summons  of  furniture  mover 
q Rent  contract 

2 


36 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


r The  master  borrows  a sum  of  money  to  enlarge  his 
business.  Note 

j Business  friend  E takes  the  oath  of  citizenship.  Cer- 
tificate of  citizenship 

t The  master  advertises  in  the  paper  for  a journeyman 
u Journeyman  G applies. 

Letter  of  request;  personal  life  history 
v He  is  accepted.  Contract 

w Apprentice  H finishes  his  apprenticeship  and  is  granted 
a certificate 

x Apprentice  H seeks  postponement  of  military  service 
y Master  receives  the  notification  and  estimate  for  in- 
come tax.  He  feels  himself  rated  too  high  and  pro- 
tests. Tax  protest 

C Arithmetic  and  geometry 

Mental  arithmetic  as  in  the  elementary  step.  More  difficult  ex- 
amples based  upon  the  work  covered  by  the  elementary  step.  Com- 
plete subject  of  percentage,  interest,  merchants’  accounting,  rebate, 
discount  and  firm  and  corporation  accounting.  Form  of  calcula- 
tions, exact  accounting  for  all  costs  and  their  apportionment  to 
various  branches  of  business.  Every  quarter,  two  short  examina- 
tions in  reckoning,  corrected  and  recopied.  Detailed  consideration 
and  reckoning  of  all  four-cornered  figures.  The  regular  polygons. 
Consideration  and  measurement  of  cubes,  prisms  and  cylinders. 
The  following  problems  of  the  work  in  construction  for  the  ele- 
mentary step  must  be  reviewed;  nos.  n,  15-18,  23,  24,  41, 
48,  50,  69,  70,  72-77,  80,  81  and  95.  Complete  in  addition  the 
problems  in  construction,  104  to  168  inclusive.  Every  quarter,  two 
short  examinations. 

D Bookkeeping.  About  30  hours  work.  Lessons  1 to  12  in  the 
teaching  plan  of  simple  bookkeeping,  including  all  the  practical 
examples  pertaining  to  this  work. 

Third  or  senior  step 

A Tradescraft  and  citizenship 

1 Divisions  of  carpentry 

a For  building  workers : floors,  windows,  doors,  wall  panels, 
ceilings,  store  fixtures,  etc.  In  the  consideration  of  the 
above,  as  well  as  in  the  following  steps  of  the  carpenter’s 
trade,  the  art  or  kinds,  the  purpose  and  the  manufacture 
of  each,  is  to  be  completely  described. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


37 


b For  cabinet  makers : tables ; art  and  purpose  for  which  each 
style  is  adapted  and  its  particular  measurements.  Manu- 
facture, peculiarities,  divisions,  and  normal  measure- 
ments. 

c Chairs  and  seating  furniture:  kinds,  purpose  of  each,  pecul- 
iarities, manufacture,  divisions  and  normal  measurements. 
d Clothespresses,  bookcases,  etc. : same  as  b and  c. 
e Thorough  review  of  the  important  paragraphs  found  in  the 
work  of  the  elementary  and  middle  step. 

/ The  handworkers  trade-union. 

g In  opening,  building  up  and  running  a business,  what  special 
laws  must  a handworker  always  take  into  consideration? 
From  Trenkner’s  “ Business  Knowledge.” 
h Private  and  governmental  methods  and  suits  for  the  collec- 
tion of  debts.  Complaint  through  the  courts.  Trade- 
union’s  court  of  arbitration.  Trade  court.  Review  of 
the  general  subjects  of  courts  and  their  working. 
i Stock  companies. 

j Coinage  — measure,  weights,  credit  and  banking. 

/ The  journeyman  and  master  examination. 
m Simple  political  economy. 

n Constitution  and  government  of  the  German  Empire.  Mili- 
tary duty.  War  and  navy  department.  Taxes,  customs, 
duties.  German  colonies. 

B German 

i Reading.  From  the  reading  book  of  Schmarje  and  Trenkner 
the  following  pieces  are  to  be  selected  for  the  senior  step 
a From  the  province  of  customs  and  religious  life: 
no.  55  About  clothing 
no.  102  Old  Gold 
no.  104  The  blessing  of  duty 
b From  nature  study: 

no.  8 The  German  forests 
no.  37  The  elasticity  of  steam 
no.  79  The  telegraph 
no.  80  The  telephone 

c Knowledge  of  lands  and  peoples,  Fatherland  and  home: 
no.  2 Germany 

no.  25  Germany  in  the  Thirty  Years’  War 
no.  59  Conquests  of  Frederick  the  Great  in  the  Seven 
Years’  War 


38 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


no.  96  Rebuilding  the  German  Empire 
no.  120  Germany  and  the  Hohenzollern 
no.  130  We  Germans  fear  God 
d From  the  province  of  work: 

no.  105  About  prosperity 
e Calling  and  standing : 

no.  53  The  entrance  into  business 
/ Handwork,  industry,  art  and  skill : 

no.  15  Unions  and  guilds  in  the  middle  ages 
no.  16  Fight  of  the  guilds  against  the  patricians 
no.  87  The  little  motor  of  the  trades 
no.  86  The  electric  motor  as  motive  power 
no.  91  Handworkers  unions 
g Trade  and  commerce: 

no.  12 1 The  German  colonies 
no.  123  About  money 
no.  1 17  Stock  companies 
h Health  and  welfare: 

The  care  of  the  dead 
no.  127  Miss  Randers 
i State  and  statescraft: 

no.  129  Concerning  taxes  and  imposts 
no.  68  The  wonderful  order  of  the  states 
no.  69  The  administration  of  justice 
no.  98  The  state  constitution 

From  the  Trade  Reading  Book  for  the  Building  Trades  the  fol- 
lowing selections  are  to  be  read : 

no.  11  The  wood  in  interior  finishings 
no.  20  The  Roman  art  of  building 
no.  22  The  Gothic  art  of  building 

2 Grammatical  and  orthographical  instruction 

Review  and  enlargement  of  the  work  set  down  for  the  elementary 
and  middle  steps.  Punctuation. 

3 Written  work.  A written  exercise  is  to  be  handed  in  once 
a week.  Besides  smaller  original  compositions  on  subjects  related 
to  the  calling,  tradescraft  and  statescraft,  the  student  is  to  prepare 
papers  on  subjects  relating  to  business,  memorials,  governing  boards, 
and  formulas.  He  should  fill  out  blanks  and  prepare  papers  such 
as  result  from  the  work  given  in  bookkeeping. 

C Arithmetic  and  geometry 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


39 


Mental  arithmetic  in  every  period.  Emphasizing  and  enlarging 
the  work  of  the  elementary  and  middle  steps  from  the  book  of 
Ernst  Loose,  pages  51  to  69.  Reckoning  of  costs,  same  text,  pages 
123  to  142.  Every  quarter,  two  complete  compositions  corrected. 
Repetition  of  the  lessons  in  constructive  geometry  given  in  the 
elementary  step,  and  from  the  middle  step,  exercises  108,  124,  148, 
154  and  162.  Complete  the  work  from  169  to  21 1.  Repeat  and 
con/plete  the  work  on  plane  measurements  and  the  measurements 
of  solids.  Every  quarter,  two  exercises  completed  and  corrected. 
D Bookkeeping 

Review  the  work  of  the  middle  step.  Complete  lessons  13  to  18 
of  the  teaching  plan  for  single  entry  bookkeeping.  The  exercises 
on  the  booking  of  various  business  transactions  as  given  in  the 
carpenters’  teaching  plan,  laid  out  by  Director  Trenkner. 

COURSE  FOR  BUILDING  CARPENTERS 

A Elementary  step 

The  elementary  step  for  building  carpenters  is  exactly  the  same 
as  that  for  general  carpenters  and  cabinetmakers. 

B Middle  step 

The  building  carpenter  has  the  same  instruction  in  projection 
as  the  cabinetmaker  and  the  following  work  in  addition  is  to  receive 
special  stress.  The  most  important  wood  joints,  axeometrically 
and  isometrically  projected.  Profiles  of  mantels,  cornices,  shelves, 
door  jams,  doorcases,  doorcase  tops,  thresholds,  window  jams  and 
window  seats,  paneling  and  wainscoting,  corner  joints  and  various 
parts  of  plans  for  windows  and  doors  in  front  elevation,  ground 
plan  and  side  elevation.  Ornamentation  and  coloring  as  in  the 
other  classes*. 

C Upper  step 

Details  of  doors  and  windows,  isometrically  projected.  Details 
of  natural  wood  and  open  beam  ceilings,  isometrically  projected. 
Drawings  of  various  room  doors,  cross  section  and  scaled.  Meas- 
urements of  sliding  doors,  cross  door,  panel  door  with  stop,  six- 
panel  door  with  stop.  Double  doors  and  house  doors.  Simple  and 
double  window  construction,  ornaments  and  coloring. 

COURSES  FOR  ARTISTIC  PAINTERS 

In  the  spring  of  1903  an  agreement  was  made  between  the  painter 
and  lacquerer  trade-union  and  the  school  authorities  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  trade  classes  for  these  apprentices.  On  every  week 


40 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


day  of  the  winter  months  the  apprentices  were  bound  to  attend 
school  from  4 to  7 or  9 p.  m.,  as  directed.  Under  these  conditions 
the  classes  were  started  in  January  1904.  It  was  soon  apparent 
that  good  work  by  the  decorative  painters  could  be  done  only  by 
daylight.  In  1906  the  former  agreement  was  changed  so  that  the 
union  bound  itself  to  send  these  boys  for  two  full  days  in  every 
week  from  8 a.  m.  to  12  m.  and  from  2 to  7 p.  m.  from  October 
15th  to  February  28th  in  every  year.  The  tuition  for  this  half 
year  was  $5,  including  free  paint  boards,  easels  and  colors. 

The  following  plan  is  for  this  18  hours  of  work: 

The  first  year : 2 hours  business  correspondence  — for  week 
students,  3 hours;  2 to  3 hours  arithmetic;  2 hours  penmanship; 
3 hours  linear  drawing,  and  9 hours  free-hand  drawing. 

The  second  year : 2 to  3 hours  business  correspondence ; 2 to  3 
hours  arithmetic;  of  the  12  or  14  hours  left  over,  one-half  is  to 
be  devoted  to  decorative  painting  and  one-quarter  each  to  free- 
hand drawing  and  wood  painting. 

The  third  year : 2 hours  tradescraft  and  citizenship ; 2 hours 
surface  measurements  and  price  reckoning;  the  remaining  time 
divided  as  in  the  second  year. 

The  fourth  year : 2 hours  bookkeeping ; 2 hours  business  law  and 
citizenship;  of  the  remaining  14  hours,  one-third  for  wood  and 
marble  painting  and  two-thirds  for  decorative  painting.  Students 
completing  the  work  in  three  years  are  given  in  the  third  year  3 
hours  tradescraft  and  citizenship,  3 hours  calculation  and  book- 
keeping, and  12  hours  divided  as  in  the  fourth  year. 

The  lacquerer  apprentices  must  attend  school  two  afternoons 
each  week  from  1 to  7.  They  take  part  in  the  theoretical  instruc- 
tion given  the  painters’  apprentices.  In  the  last  three  years  the 
lacquerers  are  divided  into  special  trade  classes,  one-half  time 
being  devoted  to  trade  instruction,  one-quarter  to  free-hand  drawing 
and  one-quarter  to  wood  painting. 

Glass  sign  painters  and  similar  apprentices  who  are  taught  with 
the  decorative  painters,  will  have  the  work  always  related  and 
referred  to  their  special  lines.  Lettering  and  special  firm  painting 
are  optional  in  the  evening.  There  is  also  free  optional  instruc- 
tion in  free-hand  drawing,  arithmetic  and  German  from  7 to  9 p.  m. 

The  detailed  course  of  study  is  as  follows : 

First  year 

A Business  correspondence.  Strengthening  and  grounding  in 
German.  Instruction  in  ordinary  business  lettering,  sign  writing  and 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


41 


other  inscriptions.  Frequent  review  of  the  prepositions  and  similar 
grammatical  points  by  constant  reference  to  the  most  frequent  mis- 
takes. Punctuation,  exclamation  point  and  hyphen.  Post  and 
freight  business,  money,  accounting,  receipt,  demand  for  payment. 
Ordinary  goods,  bill  of  sale,  inquiry  anent  buying.  Even  the 
simplest  work  of  these  apprentices  is  full  of  mistakes  in  German 
and  grammar ; nevertheless,  it  is  not  recommended  that  the  gram- 
matical instruction,  as  such,  be  put  to  the  front,  but  examples  are 
to  be  chosen  so  that  this  instruction  comes  in  conspicuously  before 
the  student  and  makes  him  feel  the  need  of  it. 

B Trade  reckoning.  Whole  numbers  and  decimal  fractions, 
coinage,  mass,  weight,  time.  Receipts  and  expenditures,  cost  of 
living  (dwelling,  clothes,  food,  incidentals).  Income,  by  the  hour, 
day,  week,  month  and  year.  Laws  of  workman’s  insurance. 
Reckoning  profit  for  given  length  of  time.  The  student  personally 
is  to  be  made  the  main  point  considered  and  all  reckoning  is  to  be 
related  to  him  and  his  trade.  Selections  from  Friedman’*s  arith- 
metic. 

C Penmanship.  The  elements  of  penmanship  and  letters;  their 
union  into  words.  Advanced  students  in  penmanship  in  words  and 
sentences  may  take  up  the  Gothic  letters,  practising  with  pen,  to- 
gether with  signs  and  business  inscription. 

D Lineal  drawing.  The  most  important  geometrical  construc- 
tions, right-angular  and  circular  divisions,  ellipse  construction  and 
the  relation  of  these  to  ceiling  and  wall  divisions.  The  use  of 
splints  is  absolutely  forbidden. 

E Free-hand  drawing.  Drawing  from  plane  surface  models, 
pressed  leaves,  butterflies  etc.  Conventionalizing  nature  studies. 
Use  of  conventionalized  form  to  complete  simple  filling  patterns  and 
friezes.  Cutting  the  stencils  for  these  patterns,  use  of  the  same  in 
stenciling  wall  patterns,  papers  and  friezes.  In  all  nature  studies 
the  largest  scale  possible  is  to  be  used,  strong  outlines,  clearly  de- 
fined ribs  and  nerves  in  leaves  and  flowers,  sharp  definition  between 
different  colors  so  that  the  arrangement  in  a stencil,  the  building 
of  openings,  and  holding  strips  become  as  simple  as  possible.  When 
possible,  the  apprentice  should  work  with  only  one  color,  effecting 
color  scheme  by  using  tone  paper  or  one-color  tapestry  as  the  back- 
ground. Later,  drawing  from  rolled,  curved  or  drooping  leaves 
from  wire  models ; studies  in  cuttings  and  living  plants,  dry  and 
wax  preparations. 


42 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


Second  year 

A Business  correspondence.  Important  points  in  the  laws  of 
trade.  Duties  of  apprentices.  Journeyman  examination.  Duties 
of  the  journeyman.  Seeking  positions  and  applications.  Memor- 
ials to  governing  boards.  Biography.  Advertising  circulars,  open- 
ing of  business,  rejection  of  goods,  lawful  demand  for  payment  and 
order  for  payment. 

B Business  arithmetic.  Common  and  decimal  fractions  in 
computations.  Interest,  profit  and  loss  calculations,  rebates,  divi- 
sions and  partnerships  and  stock  companies  accounts. 

C Decorative  painting.  Practice  in  drawing  light  and  heavy 
lines  and  bands.  Outlining  walls  and  ceilings  with  simple  lines, 
giving  the  wall  and  ceiling  tones.  Drawing  simple  cornices,  mantels, 
outlined  in  geometrical  motive.  Stencil  friezes  from  geometrical  or 
simple  plant  motives  in  one-color  tone  either  upon  the  ceiling  or  wall 
color  tone.  At  all  times,  color  practice  from  a given  wall  paper 
or  tapestry  or  from  some  color  assigned  by  the  teacher.  Practice 
in  the  selection  of  tones  for  lines  and  friezes.  Color  sketches  that 
contain  a finished  design  are  first  to  be  made  in  a scale  of  one- 
twentieth  to  one-tenth,  then  carried  out  in  natural  size.  Stencils 
in  charcoal  drawing,  tracing  and  cutting.  Lessons:  kitchen,  roof, 
cupboards  and  pantries,  toilets,  steps  and  landings,  simple  rooms, 
common  school  classrooms  etc. 

D Free-hand  drawing.  Introduction  to  bodily  form.  After  the 
study  of  leaf  and  plant  cuttings,  the  laws  of  perspective  are  to  be 
developed  by  using  simple  forms  and  models.  After  this  work  in 
outline  drawing  follows  the  study  of  such  objects  and  implements 
as  are  desirable  for  teaching  sharply  defined  lights  and  shadows. 
At  first  only  the  umbra  and  silhouette  in  black  or  one  color;  then 
attention  to  the  peculiarity  and  tone  worth.  Portrayal  in  charcoal, 
chalk,  pencil,  brush,  or  one  color  in  varying  steps.  No  washed 
colors  or  erasing,  but  sharply  defined  surfaces.  No  completed  work 
in  still  life.  Wood  painting.  Practice  in  groundwork  and  graining 
as  set  by  the  teacher.  Use  of  the  necessary  tools. 

Third  year 

A Tradescraft  and  citizenship.  Description  of  the  tools,  imple- 
ments and  the  scaffolding  and  the  work  of  decorative  and  ordinary 
painters.  Use  and  care  of  tools  and  utensils,  especially  brushes. 
The  different  scaffold  work,  buck,  pole  and  ladder  apparatus,  hang- 
ing platforms,  etc.  Rules  for  the  protection  and  care  of  apparatus. 
Description  of  buildings,  sketches  and  design.  Description  of  the 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


43 


most  important  methods  of  applying  paint,  using  textbook  on  this 
subject.  Painting  in  ordinary  and  in  oil  colors  on  wood,  polished 
surfaces,  and  metals.  Lacquering  on  wood  and  lead.  The  master 
as  a unit  of  the  trade-union.  Trade-union  and  association 
methods,  that  is,  parlimentary  law  etc. 

B Plane  surface  measurements  and  price  calculations.  Length 
and  surface  measures.  Measurement  of  plane  surfaces.  Square, 
rectangle  and  right-angular  measurements.  Triangle,  trapezium 
circle,  polygon,  floor,  walls,  ceiling,  simple  and  double  windows, 
doors,  frames,  and  drapery  fixtures.  Mantels,  designed  from 
cylinders,  cones  and  balls.  Eaves,  water  pipes,  columns,  cornices, 
vault  design.  Calculations  of  measurements  from  working  drawing. 
Foundations  of  price  reckoning.  Material,  wages,  expenses  and 
profits. 

The  apprentice  must  receive  a grounding  in  all  the  difficulties 
that  influence  prices  so  that  he  understands  the  care  and  difficulties 
that  fall  to  the  lot  of  a master. 

C Decorative  painting.  Continuation  of  the  exercises  of  the 
second  year,  wall  plans  in  simple  line  outline,  with  stencil,  friezes 
etc.  Corners  and  panels.  Wall  and  tapestry  stenciling.  Simple 
roof  and  ceiling  work.  The  exercises  are  somewhat  more  compli- 
cated, two  to  three  color  tones  in  the  stenciling  and  painting.  Ex- 
ercises : rooms,  stores,  beer  halls,  clubrooms,  vestibules,  offices, 
steps,  and  halls  are  to  be  given  by  the  teacher.  Sketching  one- 
twentieth,  one-tenth  or  one-fifth  fully  completed.  In  stenciling, 
geometrical  and  plant  life  motives,  as  well  as  others  suitable  from 
animal  life,  may  be  used  as  far  as  the  student  has  proceeded  in  free- 
hand drawing.  The  work  in  free-hand  drawing  is  to  be  improved 
and  related  to  the  other  work  as  far  as  possible,  and  employed  at 
all  times. 

D Free-hand  drawing.  Special  observation  of  light  and  color 
on  usable  examples,  articles,  animals  and  plants.  Portrayal  with 
the  least  possible  color  of  plant  surfaces  set  off  by  light  and  shadow. 
Use  of  free-hand  drawing  work  in  stencil  and  frieze  patterns  and 
conventionalized  designs. 

E Wood  and  marble  painting.  Continuation  of  the  work  of  the 
second  year.  Framework  and  filling-in  patterns  of  different  kinds 
of  wood.  Marble  painting  and  imitation.  Practice  from  nature. 

Fourth  year 

A Drawing.  Colors ; where  they  come  from,  preparation,  care  of 
imitation.  Lead  poisoning.  Lacquer,  glues.  Sketches  from  the 
history  of  decorative  painting,  Egyptian,  Pompeiian,  Raphael. 


44 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


B Tradescraft  and  citizenship  — The  master  as  citizen.  State 
of  Hamburg  and  German  constitution.  It  is  positively  necessary 
that  the  student  makes  his  own  at  least  the  important  principles 
in  the  knowledge  of  color;  this  to  be  done  by  short  dictations 
and  frequent  questions. 

C Bookkeeping.  Ground  plan  of  one  method  of  simple  business 
bookkeeping.  Daybook,  ledger,  cashbook,  inventory  and  exchange. 
Laws  for  proof  and  safety.  Tenders.  Hasten  and  Minetti  “ Book- 
keeping for  Painters.” 

D Decorative  painting.  More  difficult  problems  in  handling 
ceilings  and  walls.  In  this  work  the  friezes  and  stenciling  are  to 
be  made  richer  in  form  and  color,  and  the  students  are  especially 
to  handle  difficulties  arising  from  wall  surface  division  by  doorways, 
niches,  pillars  etc.  The  division  of  the  ceiling  by  projecting  walls 
and  other  irregularities  of  the  ground  plan  are  also  to  be  considered. 
In  the  free  brush  work  some  place  may  be  given  to  the  construction 
of  leaves,  flowers  and  similar  details ; still  life  and  color  and  por- 
trayal of  animal  life,  landscapes,  medallions  and  the  human  figure 
do  not  belong  to  the  scope  of  students’  work  and  are  to  be  avoided. 
To  the  foregoing  work  add  social  room  for  hotel,  bedroom,  gym- 
nasium, schoolroom,  simple  music  room  etc. 

E Wood  and  marble  painting.  Completion  of  the  former  ex- 
ercises and  work  for  further  study  in  the  arts  of  wood  and  mantel 
handling.  Syenite  and  granite. 

Lacquerer  classes 

The  lacquerer  apprentices  of  the  second,  third  and  fourth  years 
are  divided  into  their  respective  separate  classes.  They  attend 
school  two  days  each  week  from  i to  4 p.  m.  They  have  the  theo- 
retical work  in  common  with  the  painter  apprentices  of  their  re- 
spective years.  The  remaining  time  from  1 to  5 or  6 p.  m.  is  de- 
voted to  the  practical  work. 

A Trade  instruction.  Two-thirds  of  the  8 or  10  hours  will  be 
devoted  to  practice  in  free-hand  line  drawing,  with  slider  on  fellies 
or  wheels,  right-angle  lining,  largest  possible  surface,  corresponding 
to  the  needs  of  wagon  lacquerers,  lead  lacquerers,  or  furniture 
ornamenters.  Small  ornamental  details,  corner  work  and  designs  in 
geometrical  and  free  outline.  A few  examples  in  heralds  and  mono- 
grams. 

For  advanced  students.  Setting  forth  of  business  and  delivery 
wagons  with  border  decorations  and  lettering.  Development  of 
color  feeling.  These  lessons  are  to  be  sketched  to  small  scale  and 
later  worked  out  in  natural  size. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


45 


B Wood  painting.  One-third  of  8 to  io  hours  devoted  to  prac- 
tice in  graining  and  portrayal  of  important  woods.  Free-hand 
drawing  and  lettering;  drawing  the  large  and  small  letters  in  the 
Latin  alphabet,  union  into  words,  block  type.  Development  from 
letters  into  monograms.  Studies  of  leaves,  flowers  and  prepared 
specimens  and  their  value  for  ornamental  decoration. 

/ 

Optional  classes 

These  classes  are  given  in  the  evening  only. 

A Free-hand  drawing.  The  same  principles  used  in  the  re- 
quired work  are  used  here.  The  evening  classes  merely  afford 
more  time  for  practice. 

B Lettering  and  sign  painting.  Further  building  in  the  required 
work  and  in  round  script,  practice  in  the  Latin  printing  alphabet, 
large  and  small,  development  of  a few  important  printing  scripts 
and  block  type  in  order  to  strengthen  the  appreciation  for  read- 
ability, color,  blending  and  harmony,  beauty  and  the  completed 
whole.  The  student  learns  to'  work  with  the  least  possible  color 
and  materials  and  to  avoid  brilliant  colors,  shadows  and  double 
lines.  The  relation  between  the  script  and  the  bordering  or  decora- 
tion is  to  be  explained.  Profession  and  trade  insignias  are  to  be 
seldom  used  and  never  as  artistic  centers  but  more  as  decoration 
for  surface  patterns  and  stenciling,  and  are  to  be  always  secondary 
to  the  lettering. 

C German.  From  specially  chosen  examples  from  the  work 
on  the  painters’  trade,  certain  paragraphs  of  grammar  are  to  be 
reviewed.  Practice  in  written  and  oral  expression.  Letters  and 
post  cards  of  apprentices  to  relatives.  Description  of  painting 
work  and  of  rooms  that  have  been  or  are  to  be  decorated. 

D Arithmetic.  Decimal  fractions  and  their  application.  Sur- 
face measure,  percentage,  profit  and  loss.  Course  of  study  in  signs, 
shields,  and  designs  for  painter  apprentices. 

First  division.  They  begin  with  the  drawing  of  lines  and  practice 
with  brush  work  in  size  and  color.  Arrangement  of  ornaments 
according  to  previously  assigned  spacing.  Color  mixing  according 
to  problems  outlined.  Script  painting  for  spaces  assigned.  Script 
drawing.  Simple,  usable,  Gothic  and  Latin  script  and  the  practical 
application  of  the  same. 

Second  division.  Color  mixing  from  set  problems.  Color 
harmony.  Painting  from  set  spacing  and  given  examples.  Draw- 
ing from  examples,  enlarging  and  coloring.  Independent  prepara- 
tion of  mixed  colors.  Preparation  of  a few  sketches  for  friezes. 


46 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


Sketching  for  wall  and  ceiling  decoration.  Drawing  modern  script 
and  painting  the  same.  Development  of  placards  and  posters  in 
painting. 

Courses  of  study  for  classes  in  free-hand  drawing: 

Summer  half-year  - — plant  ornaments.  Simple,  divided,  com- 
bined leaf  forms.  Leaf  foreshortening  and  cutting.  Flower  forms 
and  stems.  Leaf  preparation  and  preservation. 

Winter  half-year  — geometrical  ornaments.  Conventionalize  a 
few  butterflies,  birds  and  small  animals.  Perspective  drawing  of 
simple  subjects. 

An  exact  division  of  subjects,  week  for  week,  is  not  possible  be- 
cause the  various  talents  and  advancements  of  the  students  make 
a uniform  progress  impossible;  this  teaching  is  therefore  mostly 
individual  and  not  subject  to  outline. 

COMMERCIAL  COURSES  *EOR  THE  GROCER 

(The  German  system  of  grading  classes  is  exactly  opposite  to  the  Ameri- 
can system;  thus  in  commercial  schools  class  IV  is  the  lowest  and  class  I 
is  the  highest.) 

German  three,  six  hours  per  week. 

Class  IV.  Reading  from  a large  number  of  selected  pieces. 
The  main  object  is  to  secure  good  pronunciation  and  enun- 

ciation. To  secure  memory  and  oral  fluency,  certain  im- 
portant selections  are  to  be  reproduced  by  the  students. 

A special  reading  book  by  J.  Schmarje  is  used.  Grammar 

includes  a complete  review  of  the  declension  of  nouns,  pro- 

nouns, adjectives  and  much  practice  in  the  correct  use  of  im- 
perative prepositions,  governing  verbs  and  adjectives.  The  sub- 
ject for  written  work  is  to  be  taken  from  the  grocers’  trades. 
Dictation  relating  to  the  everyday  affairs  of  a grocery  store  will 
alternate  with  individual  work  from  the  experiences  of  the  ap- 
prentice. Finally,  by  use  of  the  blackboard,  written  examples, 
and  suitable  quotations,  the  students  are  to  be  gradually  intro- 
duced into  the  phraseology  of  the  grocery.  Practice  is  given  in 
the  correct  use  of  commercial  terms  and  in  the  business  vocabulary 
of  the  grocery  trade.  The  work  is  to  be  sequential  and  to  stimulate 
interest  in  the  grocery  business. 

A Examples 

1 Letter  to  an  old  friend;  aim  to  secure  a position  as  appren- 

tice ; special  attention  to  be  given  personal  and  possessive 
pronouns. 

2 Answer  of  the  friend. 

3 Letter  to  an  incoming  proprietor. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


47 


4 Answer  of  the  proprietor,  directing  apprentice  to  come  to 
isee  him.  The  aim  in  these  cases  (3  and  4)  is  to  secure 
a correct,  polite  form. 

B Announcing  sale  of  a grocery  business  by  A;  questions  of 
the  purchaser  Byanswer  to  his  question;  considering  security  from 
third  party  C. 

^Class  III.  The  reading  practice  gives  occasion  for  oraj.  repro- 
duction of  what  has  been  read,  especially  for  clear  and  connected 
statements.  General  review  of  grammar,  taking  up  only  the  main 
points,  and  particularly  those  liable  to  give  pupils  most  trouble, 
as  prepositions,  governing  verbs  and  adjectives,  and  pronuncia- 
tion ; explanation  of  all  words  and  terms  especially  connected  with 
grocery  business.  The  written  work  will  be  restricted  to  the 
writing  of  letters  covering  all  possible  relations  that  might  arise 
in  the  grocery  business,  both  wholesale  and  retail,  and  to  practice 
on  written  business  forms.  As  a guide  Edert’s  “ Mercantile 
Plans  ” is  used.  The  instruction  in  German  is  directed  toward  the 
fixing  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  general  commercial  prac- 
tice. In  the  second  half  of  the  year  the  following  chapters  of  Max 
Behm’s  “General  Commercial  Principles”  are  taken  up:  (1) 
all  that  has  to  do  with  indexing,  cataloging,  registering  and  record- 
ing in  a business  office;  (2)  the  postal  affairs;  (3)  shipping  of 
goods. 

Class  II.  The  use  of  the  reading  book  in  this  class  is  restricted. 
Political  economy  is  given  special  attention.  The  written  work 
introduces  practical  business  correspondence ; for  example,  ad- 
vertisements, offering  of  goods  for  sale,  ordering  of  goods,  letters 
of  credit,  circulars,  letters  of  information,  letters  demanding  pay- 
ment, correspondence  with  an  agent  as  between  debtor  and  creditor, 
seeking  of  employment,  references,  contracts,  and  the  presenting  of 
requests.  In  this  written  work  the  independent  work  of  the  pupils 
is  to  be  sought.  Edert’s  “ Mercantile  Plans  ” is  used  as  a guide. 
From  Max  Behm’s  “ General  Commercial  Principles  ” will  be  taken 
up  anything  connected  with  customs,  money  and  exchange. 

Commercial  penmanship 

Class  IV.  The  aim  is  to  acquire  a skilful  and  beautiful  handwrit- 
ing. Practice  is  given  in  the  German  and  Latin  alphabets,  first 
with  the  letters  singly  and  then  in  words.  In  the  last  half  year 
follows  writing  of  longer  sentences  and  paragraphs  related  to  the 
grocer’s  calling,  such  as  bills,  receipts,  and  addresses. 


48 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


Class  III.  Practice  is  given  in  the  writing  of  longer  articles,  the 
chief  aim  being  legibility  and  neatness ; filling  out  of  business  forms 
and  blanks  and  discussion  of  same;  filling  out  of  entrybook  by 
J.  Schmarje;  practice  of  ovals  and  other  ornamental  types  by  such 
students  as  are  especially  gifted  for  such  work. 

Arithmetic 

Class  IV.  The  four  fundamentals  in  whole  numbers,  common 
and  decimal  fractions.  Emphasis  is  laid  on  accuracy  and  complete- 
ness as  well  as  on  the  correct  use  of  arithmetical  rules.  Simple 
rule  of  three,  easy  lessons  in  partnership,  alligation  and  division, 
and  from  square  and  cubic  measure  only  that  which  relates  espe- 
cially to  the  grocery  business.  For  exercises  part  I of  Prof.  M. 
Lowe’s  “ Lessons  in  Business  Arithmetic  ” is  used,  the  more  diffi- 
cult problems  being  omitted  in  this  grade.  Afterwards  the  simpler 
lessons  in  percentage  from  Lowe,  part  II,  with  examples  taken 
from  the  grocers’  business,  might  also  be  taken  up  in  this  class. 

Class  III.  The  study  of  interest  (Lowe,  part  II,  p.  19-39)  and 
percentage  (Lowe,  part  I,  sec.  9).  From  partnership  the  more 
difficult  problems  (Lowe,  part  I,  sec.  10  and  Lowe,  part  II,  p.  18- 
19),  as  well  as  division  (Lowe,  part  I,  sec.  11,  and  part  II,  p.  19). 

Class  II.  From  Lowe,  part  II,  study  the  chapters  on  discount, 
stocks,  and  compound  interest  and  the  payment  of  debts.  Further, 
Lowe,  part  III,  introduction  into  current  accounts. 

Bookkeeping 

Class  III.  Opening  of  an  inventory,  explanation  of  the  terms 
“ inventory  ” and  “ balance  ” ; working  out  of  a short  “ geschafts- 
ganges  ” with  the  simplest  entries  after  simple  bookkeeping.  Fur- 
ther, “ geschaftsganges,”  yearly  balance  with  profit  and  the  same 
with  diminished  profit  (business  expenses  through  brokerage  and 
commission);  loss;  account  current  of  the  proprietor;  increase  of 
capital.  Special  stress  is  laid  on  independent  work. 

Class  II.  Taking  as  a basis  a short  “ geschaftsganges  ” worked 
out  for  two  months  and  following  the  rules  of  double  entry  book- 
keeping, the  following  are  discussed  and  written  up : inventory, 
daybook,  cashbook,  journal,  ledger,  monthly  balance,  general 
balance  and  yearly  balance.  In  oral  work,  chief  emphasis  is  laid 
on  finding  out  the  correct  account  (debit  and  credit).  In  the 
second  half-year  follows  the  independent  work  of  a “ geschafts- 
ganges.” 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


49 


Commercial  geography 

Class  II.  The  geographical  possibilities  and  conditions,  both 
physical  and  political,  of  the  grocery  business  and  its  commerce; 
the  great  German  coal  fields  and  agricultural  centers;  the  most 
important  agricultural  products ; the  great  German  steamship 
lines  and  their  routes  of  trade;  the  great  European  nations,  their 
colonies,  important  exports  and  trade  in  food  products ; the  great 
commercial  centers  outside  of  Europe  which  are  noted  for  their 
food  trade  with  Germany.  The  connection  between  the  physical 
features  of  a country  and  the  occupations  of  its  inhabitants  with 
its  export  products  and  commercial  possibilities,  is  particularly 
noted. 

Stenography 

Class  II.  The  instruction  in  stenography  will  be  given  in  the 
last  semester  according  to  the  Stolze-Schrey  system  and  the  in- 
struction book  by  Ahrens  and  Petersen.  Special  stress  on  the  con- 
sonant signs  arranged  in  groups  and  of  the  vowels  symbolically 
represented  through  these.  The  use  of  combinations  of  consecutive 
vowels  and  consonants.  Practice  of  a few  special  rules  of  writing; 
at  the  same  time  to  acquire  in  connection  with  related  material  the 
prefixes,  suffixes,  and  contractions  that  will  be  needed  later  in  the 
business. 

Foreign  language 

Courses  in  foreign  languages  are  elective.  Attention  is  called 
to  the  importance  of  a practical  mastery  of  the  foreign  language  as 
it  is  used  in  business  life.  To  this  end  there  is  as  great  a re- 
striction as  possible  in  grammatical  rules  and  much  practice  in  oral 
and  written  expressions,  translation  of  letters,  and  business  cor- 
respondence and  conversation. 

Students  from  all  classes  and  courses  may  take  this  work. 

Commercial  instruction 

Commercial  instruction  in  class  I is  characterized  by  a further 
repetition  of  the  material  acquired  in  the  former  classes  and 
minute  dealings  of  exchange.  Further  banking,  stock  exchange 
and  board  of  trades ; stocks  and  bonds ; a few  of  the  most  im- 
portant terms  of  commercial  law,  board  of  trade  and  of  the  con- 
stitution. 

TEACHERS 

More  important  by  far  than  these  courses  of  study  are  the 
teachers  who  are  to  present  this  work  in  a manner  so  practical 


50 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT  - 


as  to  appeal  to  the  most  ardent  tradesman  and  at  the  same  time 
with  stimulated  interest  and  according  to  the  correct  rules  of 
pedagogy.  A general  sketch  of  the  Hamburg  faculty  is  here  given, 
followed  by  a more  detailed  account  of  the  selection,  instruction 
and  division  of  teachers. 

Each  of  the  four  schools  in  the  main  trade  school  building  is 
under  its  own  director,  a man  of  special  skill  and  experience  in  his 
particular  branches,  and  the  head  trade  school  itself  is  under  Prof. 
Dr  Weckwerk,  previously  mentioned.  All  other  public  continua- 
tion schools  are  under  Inspector  Kasten,  and  each  of  the  union 
trade  schools  has  its  separately  chosen  director  responsible  to  the 
union.  The  head  trade  school  for  evening  and  Sunday  schools 
is  under  a director  chosen  by  the  inspector,  and  each  of  the  ten 
schools  held  in  public  school  buildings  has  its  own  director.  Five 
are  directors  in  the  same  building  during  the  day;  of  the  remain- 
ing five,  three  have  the  advanced  license  and  are  teachers  in  high 
schools  and  only  two  are  ordinary  day  school  teachers. 

In  these  ten  evening  schools  are  employed  223  teachers,  of  whom 
45  are  tradesmen,  5 rectors  in  day  schools,  9 teachers  in  high 
schools  and  164  common  school  teachers  or  special  language  teach- 
ers. Of  these  223  men,  40  are  employed  only  half-yearly,  10  in 
summer  and  30  in  winter;  and  of  these  40,  only  14  are  tradesmen 
of  whom  10  teach  in  winter  and  4 in  summer.  Thus  we  see  that 
in  the  evening  schools  where  nearly  all  theory  is  taught  there  are 
178  professional  teachers  to  45  tradesmen,  and  of  these  178 
teachers  only  26  2 re  employed  half-yearly,  while  20  of  the  26  are 
employed  in  the  winter  half-year  when  day  schools  are  in  full 
session.  In  general,  we  may  say  that  in  all  trade  schools  the  pro- 
fessional teacher  is  used  for  theory  and  as  far  as  possible  for  the 
elementary  technical  work,  the  advanced  technical  work  and  certain 
advanced  theory  being  left  to  the  mechanic.  In  the  elementary 
classes  the  professional  teacher  is  needed  for  methods  and  disci- 
pline and  he  can  easily  master  the  technical  side  of  the  work.  As 
soon  as  the  technical  side  supersedes  the  pedagogical,  the  mechanic 
replaces  the  teacher.  Mechanics  exclusively  are  used  in  the  work- 
shops and  laboratories  and  in  the  union  trade  schools,  and  the  ad- 
vanced theory  is  taught  either  by  a professional  teacher  who  has 
been  through  the  course  in  practical  training  or  by  a workman  who 
has  attended  the  course  in  pedagogy.  Thus  trade  drawing,  draw- 
ing in  upper  classes  and  some  few  elementary  classes,  tradescraft, 
and  ship  and  machinery  design  are  usually  taught  by  experts.  The 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


51 


teachers  of  artistic  painting,  decorating,  and  frescoing  are  artists 
and  have  their  private  studios,  often  in  the  school  building.  Hav- 
ing taken  the  course  in  pedagogy,  they  teach  as  a side  line.  In  the 
plumbers’  school  of  Hamburg,  German,  writing,  bookkeeping, 


tradescraft  and  certain  work  in  the  lower  t 
professional  teachers  while  the  trade  drawing,  design'  sHopwof 


■B®WWM.onJMES 

wine,  design,  shopwork 


and/  upper  classes  are  under  mechanics  from  the  technikum.  All 
the  practical  work  in  the  street  pavers’  classes  is  done  by  a me- 
chanic who  is  employed  only  two  months  in  winter  when  street 
work  is  stopped ; but  in  the  Harburg  school  for  bakers  very  ex- 
cellent work  is  being  done  by  a day  school  teacher  who  has  made 
a study  of  the  bakery  business  for  this  purpose.  The  actual  work 
is  done  in  the  bakery,  but  this  teacher  discusses  potash  and  yeast, 
what  they  are,  how  to  make  them,  how  they  affect  food ; simple 
chemistry ; special  baking  powders ; conditions  producing  chalk  in 
bread ; and  all  sorts  of  weight  and  price  calculation.  This  illus- 
trates what  is  meant  by  the  advanced  classes  in  theory  which  are 
usually  taught  by  a tradesman. 

In  the  school  -in  Altona  for  the  building  trades,  arithmetic,  Ger- 
man, elementary  drawing,  citizenship  and  the  beginning  classes  in 
tradescraft  are  taught  by  professional  teachers ; mechanical  draw- 
ing, patternmaking,  construction  and  shop  are  under  the  mechani- 
cal builders.  First  year  drawing  for  plumbers  is  taught  by  a day 
school  teacher.  Second  year  work  in  technical  theory,  arrange- 
ment of  water  pipes,  flow  of  water,  measurements,  and  general 
orders  are  well  taught  by  a day  school  teacher  who  has  taken  the 
course  under  an  engineer  from  the  technikum.  Third  year  work  is 
taught  entirely  by  professional  plumbers. 

Even  in  the  commercial  schools  the  same  division  is  found.  The 
first  half-year  of  bookkeeping  is  left  to  a day  school  teacher ; the 
second  half-year  to  a professional  bookkeeper.  Correspondence  I 
has  a tradesman ; correspondence  II  has  a day  teacher  who  has  made 
special  preparation.  Only  in  the  most  advanced  schools  like  the 
technikum  and  the  shipbuilding  school  is  there  an  entire  faculty  of 
mechanical  teachers,  and  here  the  festangestellt  or  permanently 
hired  teachers  are  in  the  majority. 

In  the  continuation  schools  the  permanently  fixed  teachers  are  a 
minority,  the  greater  number  being  employed  from  year  to  year  by 
the  hour.  The  permanent  teachers  received  from  $1000  to  $1750 
per  year,  the  usual  increase  being  $150  every  three  years.  Those 
who  are  paid  by  the  hour  receive  62F2  cents  per  hour  the  first  three 


52 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


years  and  75  cents  per  hour  after  the  third  year.  College  graduates, 
engineers,  or  modern  language  teachers  receive  75  cents  per  hour, 
increasing  to  94  cents  per  hour  after  three  years.  In  Altona  the 
teachers  are  paid  $27.50  per  year-hour  when  hired  by  the  year,  and 
75  cents  per  hour  when  hired  by  the  hour ; nearly  ail  are  day  school 
men  and  are  very  carefully  selected.  Candidates  send  written  ap- 
plication to  the  director  who  communicates  at  once  with  the  schulrat 
to  ascertain  their  standing  in  the  public  schools.  From  this  infor- 
mation he  prepares  a list  and  visits  these  men  in  their  classes,  after- 
wards selecting  the  most  suitable  for  the  vacancies  to  be  filled. 
They  are  usually  over  30  years  of  age,  as  experience  has  shown 
that  younger  men  are  not  successful  in  the  trade  schools.  They 
are  required  to  sign  a contract  to  teach  four  hours  per  week  or 
less,  at  the  pleasure  of  the  director  and  to  enter  a preparatory  class. 
The  one  drawback  to  this  plan  is  the  opposition  of  the  day  school 
rectors,  who  do  not  approve  of  their  teachers  working  evenings; 
but  experience  has  proved  that  the  ordinary  teacher  can  teach  up 
to  8 or  10  hours  per  week  in  the  continuation  schools  without 
affecting  the  other  work,  and  their  contract  permits  them  to  stop 
at  4 hours,  although  there  is  no  law  limiting  their  evening  work  as 
is  the  case  in  Hamburg.  Rectors  of  day  schools  are  selected  where- 
ever  possible  and  mechanics  are  in  demand,  but  very  scarce,  as  they 
must  be  especially  adapted  for  teaching.  The  tradesman  teacher 
does  excellent  work  in  practice  and  theory  with  one  pupil,  but  they 
neither  like  the  work  nor  achieve  much  success  in  class  teaching. 

The  preparatory  class  which  all  teachers  enter  is  conducted  by  the 
director  and  continues  for  one  year,  developing  the  pedagogical  side 
of  industrial  education,  aims  and  spirit  of  the  work  and  the  more 
specific  sides  of  certain  subjects,  such  as  bookkeeping.  No  teacher 
is  employed  until  he  has  satisfactorily  completed  this  work,  and 
his  chances  then  are  much  increased  if  he  has  voluntarily  interested 
himself  in  the  technical  side  of  the  work.  Besides  visiting  the 
technical  classes  of  the  school,  many  teachers  attend  regular  courses 
of  lectures  on  technical  instruction  which  are  held  in  various  cities 
of  Prussia  for  three,  four  and  six  weeks  at  a time  by  the  central 
government.  Others  visit  shops  to  get  accurate  information  in  ad- 
vance of  their  classes,  take  work  provided  by  the  trade-unions,  at- 
tend classes  in  building,  carpentry  and  machine  construction  schools 
and  occasionally  work  in  some  trade  or  business.  All  of  this  work, 
however,  is  voluntary;  no  teachers  are  sent  into  shops,  stores  and 
schools  at  the  school  expense  to  acquire  knowledge  for  use  in 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


53 


teaching.  In  this  respect,  Altona  can  not  rival  Hamburg,  where 
the  selection  and  training  of  teachers  has  been  raised  to  a science. 

For  the  training  of  teachers  the  city  provides  four  special  classes 
which  are  open  to  any  candidate  for  a teaching  position  in  the  con- 
tinuation school  upon  application  to  the  inspector  or  director. 
From  the  registration  lists,  the  inspector  selects  his  names  and  for- 
ward s them  to  the  oberschulbehiirde  controlling  the  public  day 
schools,  which  returns  a record  for  each  name,  showing  the  teacher’s 
education,  certificates  granted,  ability,  success  as  a teacher  and  the 
reports  of  the  inspector,  all  of  which  are  kept  in  a permanent  record. 
To  this  record  are  later  added  the  candidate’s  class  record,  ability, 
personality  and  attendance  as  reported  by  the  special  teacher  and 
observed  by  the  inspector.  From  this  completed  record  the  teachers 
are  selected,  after  finishing  one  year’s  preparatory  study. 

TRAINING  THE  ELEMENTARY  TEACHER  IN  MECHANICAL  BRANCHES 

The  largest  number  of  names  on  this  list  represents  the  day 
school  teachers  and  comes  from  the  registration  in  a technological 
course  for  increasing  the  efficiency  of  such  teachers  in  practical 
trades.  The  course  was  started  in  1906  upon  the  joint  recom- 
mendation of  the  inspector  and  director,  and  placed  in  charge  of 
Herr  Oberlehrer  Engineer  Siefkin,  one  of  the  best  instructors  in 
the  technikum.  The  members  of  this  class  receive  free  as  text- 
books “ Sketches  from  Lectures  on  Machine  Technology,”  by  the 
teacher.  The  tools  and  apparatus  needed  for  descriptions  in  the 
lectures  of  the  course  are  loaned,  as  needed,  by  the  firm  of  Ortmann 
& Herbst.  In  order  to  base  the  course  upon  those  things  that  are 
most  practical  and  necessary  and  to  avoid  all  matter  that  tends  to 
interfere  with  the  main  objects  of  the  work,  a large  variety  of  single 
sheets,  prospectuses,  cuts  and  catalogs  showing  the  newest  and 
most  essential  features  of  every  trade,  are  handed  out  gratis,  hav- 
ing been  furnished  free  by  different  firms  upon  request  of  Herr 
Siefkin.  In  order  to  illustrate  and  explain  the  plants  for  the 
handling  and  transporting  of  molten  metal,  bronze,  tin  plate, 
rolled  plate,  slagg,  fuel,  etc.  the  teacher  prepared  no  lantern  slides 
of  rolling  and  stamping  mills,  which  are  used  for  one  lecture  of  the 
course,  open  to  outsiders,  and  held  in  the  city  museum  hall  loaned 
for  that  purpose. 

By  request  of  Schulrat  Prof.  Dr  Stuhlman,  the  upper  classes  of 
the  technikum  were  invited  to  the  last  lecture  and  appeared  in  full 
numbers.  They  represent  the  future  expert  teachers  in  the  con- 


54 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


tinuation  schools.  Practical  expeditions  conducted  by  the  instructor 
are  also  a feature  of  the  course.  During  the  last  year  the  follow- 
ing places  of  business  have  been  visited  and  studied : J.  H.  & 
H.  Menk,  metal  and  iron  works ; Hamburg  mint ; Ferdinand  Stripp, 
tin  and  lacquerware  factory;  D.  H.  W.  Schultz  & Son,  bronzeware 
factory;  Gebruder  Lamberg  & Co.,  rolled  tin  plate;  C.  H.  E. 
Eggers  & Co.,  money  cases  and  cash  register  factory;  enamel  fac- 
tory in  Bergdorf  ; Blohm  & Volfs,  shipyard  and  machine  factory; 
Ferdinand  Muller,  bronze  and  brass  factory ; Ortmann  & Herbst, 
machine  factory.  The  owners  of  these  plants  were  more  than  will- 
ing to  throw  open  their  factories,  and  often  assisted  in  the  explana- 
tion to  the  class. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Herr  Siefkin,  the  trade  school  board  per- 
mitted thirty-six  of  his  students  to  accompany  him  upon  a trip  into 
the  South  to  visit  the  Peiner  rolling  mills  and  Llseder  smelting 
works,  the  city  voting  a certain  sum  for  the  two  days’  trip.  The 
teachers  and  students  reported  much  profit  from  the  trip,  and  that 
every  courtesy  and  assistance  in  studying  these  vast  works  was 
shown  them. 

Since  a perfect  equipment  for  technical  teaching  and  an  intelligent 
attendance  upon  the  foregoing  technological  course  demand  that  the 
teacher  be  able  to  sketch  quickly  and  accurately  simple  tools  and 
machines,  upon  the  suggestion  of  Director  Weckwerk  and  In- 
spector Kasten,  the  board  decided  to  establish  a course  in  practical 
sketching.  This  work  was  also'  allotted  to  Herr  Siefkin  for  two 
hours  weekly,  Wednesday  from  4.30  to  6.30  in  the  head  trade 
school,  and  extended  over  six  winter  months.  The  course  was  free 
and  32  men  availed  themselves  of  this  instruction,  26  from  trade 
schools  and  6 advance  students  in  the  head  school.  Acting  upon 
suggestions  from  the  same  two  gentlemen,  there  was  started  a sec- 
ond course  giving  special  attention  to  practice  in  the  drawing  of 
tools,  implements,  and  vessels  needed  for  instruction  in  the  boys 
elementary  classes.  This  class  met  four  hours  weekly  for  six 
months  under  direction  of  drawing  inspector  F.  Burns,  director  of 
the  Ludwig  strasse  gewerbeschule,  and  had  23  teachers  attending. 
Still  another  class,  designed  to  increase  the  efficiency  of  the  new 
teachers  in  the  tinkers  trade  school,  is  to  be  formed  upon  Inspector 
Kasten’s  advice.  This  class  deals  with  the  building  technic  neces- 
sary for  the  teaching  of  tradescraft  and  trade  drawing  in  classes  1 
and  2,  and  is  similar  to  one  under  Diplom  Engineer  Steinbach,  a 
teacher  in  the  building  trade  school,  who  conducts  a biweekly  six 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


55 


months’  course  for  technikers  on  methods  in  building  plumbing,  roof 
metal  work  and  mechanics.  During  the  year  the  teachers  in  the 
tinkers  school,  together  with  Inspector  Kasten,  visited  many  fac- 
tories including,  among  others,  Gebruder  Ebel’s  zinc  press  factory 
and  the  installation  and  pneumatic  pipe  factory  of  K.  A.  Gut- 
knecht. 

Ivor  are  these  courses  and  visits,  good  as  they  are,  considered  en- 
tirely sufficient.  Two  elementary  teachers  have  been  sent  into  the 
workshops  to  work,  one  in  a shop  for  locksmiths  and  the  other  in 
a plumbing  and  tinsmith’s  establishment.  Here  they  do  the  regular 
daily  work  of  the  trade,  bringing  specimens  of  their  work  to  the 
school  and  often  making  the  models  needed  for  instruction.  They 
are  rapidly  put  through  the  paces  of  an  apprentice  and  are  then 
returned  to  teach  the  theory  and  bookwork  as  allied  to  practice  in 
the  lower  trade  classes  of  the  school.  They  advise  and  consult 
with  the  other  teachers  and  make  the  most  valuable  instructors  for 
elementary  trade  courses.  The  mechanics  are  not  entirely  in  favor 
of  this  method,  fearing  it  will  lead  to  the  adoption  of  school  work- 
shops and  a decrease  of  the  apprenticeship  system. 

The  inspector  picked  a fine  boy  from  the  graduating  class  and 
sent  him  into  the  workshops  for  special  work  and  to  make  models 
for  the  school.  Later  this  young  man  will  be  placed  in  the  peda- 
gogical course  “ Training  the  Mechanic  in  Pedagogy,”  and  will  be- 
come a valuable  teacher  of  elementary  classes. 

TRAINING  THE  MECHANIC  IN  PEDAGOGY 

This  class  for  training  the  practical  workman  in  educational 
principles  is  conducted  by  Director  Prof.  Dr  Weckwerk  of  the 
head  trade  school.  All  mechanics  who  are  prospective  teachers 
must  attend  its  Wednesday  night  sessions  from  7 to  9,  where  they 
receive  instruction  on  the  aims  and  ideals  of  the  school,  methods, 
the  particular  aim  of  each  division  of  the  school,  order,  attention, 
questioning,  and  timesaving  methods,  supplemented  by  visits  to 
various  classes  and  excursions  through  the  school.  Occasionally 
the  fore  part  of  an  hour  will  be  devoted  to  a lecture  and  the  latter 
part  to  visiting  a class  or  classes  where  the  instruction  of  the  lec- 
ture is  being  given  a practical  application.  Again  a series  of  visits 
are  made,  the  director  explaining  the  continuity  of  the  work  and 
the  relation  between  the  gewerbeschule,  the  technikum  and  other 
more  advanced  schools.  During  these  visits,  and  in  fact  at  all  times, 
the  mechanical  and  professional  teachers  consult,  each  supplying  in- 


§6  NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 

formation  that  is  needed  by  the  other.  As  an  evidence  of  the  per- 
sonal interest  taken  by  mechanics  in  improving  themselves  as 
teachers,  may  be  mentioned  the  fact  that  this  class  on  its  tours  of 
inspection  frequently  met  technikers  visiting  the  classes  on  their 
own  initiative,  inspecting  the  work,  questioning  the  professional 
teachers  and  gathering  all  possible  information.  They  even 
familiarize  themselves  with  certain  of  the  commercial  branches  in 
order  to  understand  better  the  theoretical  side. 

TRAINING  THE  COMMERCIAL  TEACHER 

For  supplying  training  in  commercial  branches  to  mechanical 
teachers  and  more  especially  to  day  school  teachers  who  are  being 
fitted  as  instructors  in  the  continuation  commercial  schools,  a very 
excellent  course  has  been  established.  An  elementary  teacher  of 
unusual  promise  was  selected  by  the  inspector  and  sent  to  the 
Banker  Verein  Bank  for  six  months’  practical  work.  He  was  then 
transferred  to  a wholesale  house  for  six  months,  and  later  to  an 
import  and  export  company,  where  he  remained  for  an  entire  year. 
Next  he  was  sent  for  some  months  into  the  office  of  a shipping 
and  transfer  company,  and  finished  up  with  four  to  six  weeks  in 
a large  department  store.  This  man  is  now  the  head  teacher  of 
banking,  bookkeeping  and  commercial  arithmetic  and  also  the  in- 
structor in  a one-year  course  in  practical  commercial  work  for  all 
elementary  teachers  who  desire  to  teach  in  the  commercial  trade 
school.  The  class  in  which  the  writer  participated  was  held  in  the 
armory  and  consisted  of  twenty-five  intelligent  young  day  school 
teachers.  The  teacher  had  a quick  businesslike  manner  that  per- 
vaded the  entire  work  of  the  class.  The  study  for  this  period  in- 
cluded exchange,  letters  of  credit,  discounts  and  foreign  paper. 
The  schulebehiirde  had  allowed  this  teacher  his  salary  during  the 
time  of  his  apprenticeship  in  these  business  houses,  but  anyone  who 
observed  the  speed  and  assurance  with  which  he  presented  topic 
after  topic  from  both  the  practical  and  pedagogical  side,  would  have 
no  doubt  of  the  ample  returns  made  to  the  city  for  the  money  so 
expended. 

PUPILS 

If  the  preparation  of  teachers  is  important,  the  preparation  of 
pupils  is  more  so.  The  vast  majority  of  continuation  school  pupils 
receive  their  elementary  education  in  the  volkschule  or  common 
free  school,  and  to  form  an  intelligent  idea  of  what  this  education 
is,  it  will  be  necessary  to  say  a few  words  about  these  schools. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


57 


In  Altona  there  are  two  grades  of  schools  below  the  higher  pay 
schools,  the  volkschule  and  the  mittleschule.  The  former  has  a 
course  of  study  similar  to  the  first  six  years  of  our  ordinary  union 
schools,  with  religion  and  gymnastics  added  as  regular  subjects. 
The  mittleschule  includes  all  this  to  a higher  degree,  with  history, 
science,  modern  language  and  elementary  algebra  and  geometry 
added;  the  course  extends  over  nine  years  and  a small  tuition  is 
charged.  The  Hamburg  volkschule  is  a combination  of  these  two, 
containing  all  these  subjects  condensed  into  a seven  years’  course  of 
study  with  an  extra  advanced  year  called  “ selecta.”  These  classes 
begin  with  8 so  that  3,  2 and  1 are  the  highest  standards.  Drawing, 
with  the  emphasis  laid  on  the  accuracy  of  portrayal  in  general  work 
rather  than  upon  color  and  impression,  and  geometrical  construc- 
tion are  prominent  features  of  the  work  in  all  schools. 

Graduates  of  a mittleschule  may  attend  a realschule,  or  still 
higher  institution,  for  one  year  more  and  pass  the  einjahrige  ex- 
amen,  entitling  them  to  serve  only  one  year  in  the  army  instead  of 
three;  but  even  this  indorsement  has  little  effect  upon  the  trade 
school  pupils.  Of  all  apprentices  registered  in  carpentry,  two-fifths 
are  from  class  III  of  the  volkschule,  the  remaining  three-fifths 
from  classes  II  and  I and  none  from  the  higher  schools.  There 
are  405  locksmiths  and  small  metal  workers  and  not  one  has  the 
einjahrige  examen.  Only  25  come  from  selecta,  the  fourth  year 
of  a six-year  course,  or  fifth  year  of  a nine-year  course  in  higher 
schools.  Two  hundred  and  eighteen  are  from  class  I of  the  Ham- 
burg volkschule,  the  third  year  of  a six-year  course,  or  fourth  year 
of  a nine-year  course  in  higher  schools.  One  hundred  and  nineteen 
come  from  class  II  of  the  Hamburg  volkschule,  or  the  third  year 
of  a higher  school;  33  come  from  class  III  of  the  volkschule,  or 
lower;  8 come  from  village  schools  and  2 from  a one-class  country 
school.  The  tinsmiths  show  much  the  same  previous  education, 
einjahrige,  o;  selecta,  17;  volkschule  I,  165;  volkschule  II,  93; 
volkschule  III,  or  lower,  45 ; villages,  1 ; country,  o. 

Even  in  the  commercial  school  the  same  previous  training  is 
found,  but  there  is  a greater  percentage  from  the  higher  volk- 
schule classes. 

The  French  I class  contained  16  boys,  all  of  whom  were  from 
the  volkschule,  and  a majority  from  selecta.  The  arithmetic  III 
class  contained  13  boys,  6 of  whom  were  from  selecta  and  all  but  1 
from  the  volkschule;  the  bookkeeping  I class  contained  18  boys  — 
fine  looking  and  very  orderly  — mostly  from  selecta;  all  but  1 were 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


58 


from  the  volkschule;  the  German  I class  contained  14  boys,  13  of 
whom  were  from  the  volkeschule  and  1 from  the  realschule. 

It  is  also  of  interest  to  note  the  general  lines  of  business  whose 
apprentices  frequent  the  commercial  schools  most.  Thus  in  the 
French  III  class  the  majority  come  from  counting  and  importing 
houses,  very  few  from  firms  doing  strictly  local  business,  and  none 
from  stores.  In  the  French  II  class  of  the  second  half  year  in 
school  are  boys  from  importing,  exporting,  banking  and  shipping 
houses,  one  wholesale  clerk,  one  gardener  and  no  retailer.  German 
III  has  20  boys  of  whom  only  2 are  in  retail  work.  Correspondence 
II  has  8 boys,  all  from  import  and  export  firms.  The  percentage  of 
retail  clerks  is  rather  higher  than  appears  here  and  Hamburg’s 
position  as  one  of  the  largest  ports  in  Europe  naturally  raises  the 
number  from  import  and  export  houses  and  shipping  firms.  In  the 
classes  for  girls  the  percentage  of  retailers  is  large  and  the  work 
practically  the  same  as  given  to  young  men.  Contrary  to  the  fixed 
German  custom,  men  and  women  in  the  commercial  continuation 
schools  are  instructed  in  the  same  building  and  under  the  same 
government,  but  the  classes  are  never  coeducational,  and,  with  very 
few  exceptions,  the  teachers  are  men.  The  girls  are  fully  equal  to 
the  boys  in  everything  except  mental  arithmetic,  and  during  their 
school  course  are  earning  from  $5  to  $12.50  per  month  in  business 
houses.  This  is  a very  good  showing  when  it  is  remembered  that, 
after  completing  school,  girls  start  on  the  low  wages  of  $10  to 
$18.75  Per  month  and  that  their  increases  are  slow.  In  deportment 
and  interest  the  girls  excel  the  boys.  In  general,  attention  and  in- 
terest vary  with  the  teacher  exactly  the  same  as  they  do  in  any 
other  school,  but  are  best  in  the  laboratories  and  poorest  in  the 
drawing  classes,  although  the  trouble  here  is  due  much  more  to 
their  phlegmatic  dispositions  than  to  any  acute  indifference.  There 
were  professional  teachers  and  mechanical  teachers  who  had  ex- 
cellent order  and  attention,  and  both  classes  of  teachers  who  had 
•some  disorder  and  idleness;  it  seemed  to  depend  upon  the  person- 
ality of  the  teacher  entirely  and  it  was  not  conspicuous  that  either 
class  was  superior  to  the  other. 

The  same  indifference  was  surprisingly  apparent  when  the  ap- 
prentices were  consulted  regarding  their  work  in  the  school.  This 
was  more  marked  in  Altona  than  in  the  voluntary  schools  of  Ham- 
burg, but  there  was  a general  apathy  among  a large  number  of 
boys  questioned,  as  to  whether  they  came  to  school  or  not.  Only 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


59 


one  really  objected  to  being  forced  into  school;  the  usual  answer 
was  that  he  did  not  care,  he  would  just  as  soon  come  as  not  as  long 
as  he  got  his  time  allowed  for  it.  There  were  a few  in  both  cities 
who  spoke  highly  of  the  school  work  and  of  the  opportunity  so  to 
advance  themselves  ; but  this  number  was  less  than  might  be  ex- 
pected and  the  same  indifference  is  also  manifested  in  the  further 
upbuilding  of  the  students  after  leaving  the  continuation  school,  as 
only  io  per  cent  of  the  masons  and  carpenters  go  into  the  building 
trades  school,  5 per  cent  of  the  mechanics  go  on  in  the  machine 
builders  school  and  less  than  5 per  cent  of  the  others  find  their  way 
into  various  advanced  technical  schools.  These  very  facts,  how- 
ever, emphasize  the  need  of  the  continuation  schools,  the  schools 
for  the  beginners ; and  that  they  are  primarily  for  the  apprentices 
and  are  so  considered  the  following  table  shows : 


Total  number  of  students 2474 

Apprentices  2408 

Journeymen  44 

Independent  workmen  2 

Unclassified  1 1 

Teachers  and  students  9 

These  2474  pupils  are  also  divided  as  follows : 

Teachers  and  scholars  9 

Laborers  114 

Unclassified  1 1 

Specific  trades  2340 


The  largest  of  these  specific  trades  here  represented  is  that  of 
machine  builder,  with  491 ; but  locksmiths  and  tinsmiths  each  have 
over  400  and  masons  number  379.  Eight  trades  are  represented 
by  one  apprentice  each,  namely,  watchmaker,  photographer,  en- 
graver (the  others  attend  the  kunstgewerschule),  sailmaker,  candy- 
maker,  glazier  (special  school),  brushmaker  and  cooper.  In  gen- 
eral, the  representation  is  small  in  any  one  trade ; only  8 of  the  67 
trades  have  50  or  more  apprentices  in  the  school.  These  are  fig- 
ures for  Hamburg  (those  for  Altona  are  not  of  so  much  interest, 
as  all  apprentices  there  are  compelled  to  attend  school)  and  the 
total  increase  is  not  all  that  might  be  expected. 

1905  1906 

Winter  Summer  Winter  Summer 

3041  2506  3281  2769 


6o 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


The  present  numbers  are  3447  and  2911  and  it  is  estimated  that 
compulsory  education  would  nearly  double  these  figures.  Taken 
as  a whole,  the  German  student  is  a very  satisfactory  and  orderly 
pupil,  not  overenthusiastic  or  ambitious,  but  doing  excellent  work 
and  steadily  advancing  the  standards  of  the  great  industrial  army. 

CLASSES  FOR  WOMEN 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  the  other  classes  in  the  continuation 
schools,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of  the  interest  and  enthusiasm  dis- 
played by  the  pupils  in  those  special  classes  established  for  the 
wives  and  daughters  of  tradesmen  and  shopkeepers.  These  women, 
who  are  known  as  the  handworker frauen,  come  from  every  con- 
ceivable trade  and  business  to  attend  a course  of  2 to  4 hours 
weekly  established  jointly  by  the  trade-unions  interested  in  the 
school  and  by  the  city  authorities.  The  curriculum  includes  book- 
keeping, business  arithmetic,  commercial  practice,  all  forms  of  bus- 
iness paper,  banking,  shipping,  and  other  subjects  and  is  intended  to 
give  these  women  a thorough  elementary  business  education  in  order 
that  they  may  assist  their  husbands  and  fathers  in  conducting  their 
work  along  sound,  business  principles.  Through  their  influence 
many  a shiftless  business  has  been  systematized  and  put  on  a paying 
basis  and  many  a mechanic  or  laborer  has  found  the  practical  prin- 
ciples of  finance  applied  to  his  household  a great  incentive  to  saving. 
These  classes  in  both  Altona  and  Hamburg  are  one  of  the  best  pay- 
ing investments  of  the  schools.  The  course  in  Altona  is  entirely 
free  and  the  attendance  voluntary;  the  director  himself  instructs  the 
class  and  the  schoolroom  was  filled  at  every  meeting  with  fine  look- 
ing, intelligent,  ambitious  women  from  18  to  35  who  gave  perfect 
attention  and  learned  with  surprising  rapidity. 

BLANKS,  RECORDS,  AND  REPORTS 

Not  only  are  these  various  classes  organized  to  fill  a want  but 
they  are  organized  and  conducted  according  to  a system,  which  in 
itself  is  an  education  to  students  who  come  in  contact  with  it. 
Every  student  upon  entry  fills  out  a registration  blank  giving  the 
name,  age,  occupation,  employer,  school  and  class  recently  attended 
and  all  other  information  necessary  to  the  records  of  the  institution ; 
he  receives  an  assignment  card,  which  is  necessary  for  entering  the 
classes  designated  for  him,  and  a zeugnisbuch,  in  which  his  school 
records  are  to  be  kept.  The  Altona  book,  which  is  a good  ex- 
ample, contains  the  following  form : 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


6l 


0 

GENERAL  REPORT 

ATTENDANCE 

SUBJECTS 

SIGNATURES 

c 

T3 

Absence 

be 

C 

a 

<D 

Class 

teacher 

G 

<D 

a 

CD 

6 

c a 
rt.o 

be 

System 

With  | Without 

satisfactory 

excuse 

Hours 

c n 
c r 
<D 

*c3 

u 

e 

d 

B 

o 

be 

be 

c 

'3 

< 

x( 

e 

rt 

be 

c 

is 

6 

O 

<D 

Q 

Class 

U 

o 

<D 

Q 

+J  0) 

m +-> 

e 

.H 

TJ 

u 

c$ 

H 

<D 

g 

'S 

oi 

<D 

G 

in 

e 

pa 

c 

'C 

£ 

o 

o 

<u 

B 

o 

<u 

3 

,5 

X 

o 

o 

pq 

£ 

d 

u 

Q 

ci 

s 

& 

Director 

a 

6 

w 

It  will  be  noted  that  the  employer  and  not  the  parent  receives 
and  signs  these  books.  The  records  of  all  students  are  system- 
atically kept,  courses  of  study  and  daily  programs  are  printed  and 
distributed  wherever  needed,  an  annual  report  giving  in  detail  the 
various  trades,  their  classes,  numbers  of  apprentices,  and  all  the 
general  information  about  the  school,  is  printed.  In  addition  to 
these  routine  blanks  the  classes  are  supplied  with  every  possible 
blank,  chart  and  table  needed  for  the  teaching  work.  They  use 
receipts,  bills,  and  filing  cards  direct  from  the  business  houses,  to- 
gether with  checks,  drafts,  money  orders  and  postal  notes,  packet 
post,  notes  and  exchangeable  paper,  tax  sheets,  poll  sheets  and 
similar  blanks  which  are  filled  out  by  the  various  classes.  Shipping 
paper,  bills  of  lading,  importing  and  exporting  blanks,  customs 
sheets  and  other  forms,  precisely  as  used  in  business,  are  purchased 
or  furnished  by  the  government,  and  used  in  the  commercial  classes. 
Railroad  time-tables,  freight  rates,  shipping  rates  and  tabulated 
data  of  all  kinds  are  furnished  by  the  various  companies ; and  even 
a hotel  call  boy  is  instructed  in  reading  and  interpreting  such  of 
these  tables  as  give  the  information  generally  needed  by  the  traveler. 

TUITION  AND  FINANCE 

The  same  exact  system  of  records  is  applied  even  more  strictly  to 
the  financial  reports.  The  yearly  estimates  are  made  out  to  the 
smallest  detail  by  the  various  directors,  as  follows:  hauptgewer- 
beschule,  kunstgewerbeschule,  technikum,  schiffsbauschule  and 
machinenbauschule.  Requisition  for  all  other  gewerbeschulen  is 
made  by  the  inspector.  The  requisitions  for  the  hauptschule  and 
those  from  the  inspector  go  to  one  subcommittee;  each  of  the  others 


62 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


goes  to  its  special  subcommittee  and  must  be  approved  by  it  before 
being  submitted  to  the  upper  trade  school  board  of  education. 
After  approval  by  this  general  board,  the  joint  budget  is  sent  to 
the  Hamburg  burgerschaft  and  senate.  After  it  passes  these  bodies, 
it  becomes  the  fixed  amount  to  be  paid  by  the  main  treasury  to  the 
subtreasury  for  trade  school  administration.  There  is  also  a sub- 
treasury for  common  schools  and  one  for  higher  schools  receiving 
their  funds  in  the  same  manner. 

The  yearly  reports  of  actual  expenses,  made  out  and  approved 
in  the  same  manner,  are  published  either  in  the  annual  reports  or  in 
separate  financial  reports  giving  general  items  of  interest;  but  the 
data  given  below  are  taken  from  private  reports  furnished  by  the 
inspector  and  directors  of  the  schools  and  afterward  reviewed  by 
them.  Because  of  the  great  interest  that  centers  in  the  financial 
side  of  the  question,  these  figures  are  given  somewhat  completely 
and  with  comparisons  to  other  expenses.  It  is  to  be  remembered 
that  the  difference  in  monetary  standard  and  cost  of  living  between 
Germany  and  the  United  States,  as  well  as  the  difference  in  the 
amount  of  assistance  such  schools  may  naturally  expect  from  the 
central  government  and  from  the  trade-unions,  which,  not  being  in 
money  but  in  material,  does  not  appear  in  financial  statements, 
makes  it  impossible  to  offer  these  figures  as  estimates  for  this 
country.  We  may,  however,  form  a fair  estimate  by  comparing 
them  with  the  city’s  total  expenses,  which  leads  to  but  one  conclu- 
sion, that  wherever  a city  or  village  is  satisfied  to  begin  slowly,  using 
its  public  schools  and  such  other  buildings  and  material  as  are  at 
hand,  the  finances  of  a trade  school  are  not  the  prohibitive  feature 
they  otherwise  seem  to  be. 

Whether  tuition  should  be  applied  in  this  country  to  a reduction 
of  the  expense  is  a doubtful  question.  Certainly  in  day  schools 
that  educate  pupils  under  legal  school  age  there  should  be  no  tuition, 
and  likewise  no  tuition  in  schools  in  which  the  education  is  compul- 
sory. For  pupils  above  school  age  and  in  evening  schools  a small 
tuition  might  be  charged;  the  Germans  find  that  students  who  pay 
tuition  work  better  than  those  who  do  not,  and  where  the  employer 
pays  the  tuition  he  exhibits  a livelier  interest  in  the  school. 

Tuition  in  Hamburg  is  very  small.  For  entrance  to  trade  classes 
$2.45  for  six  months  is  payable  in  advance  or  by  the  day  after 
registration.  Elementary  classes  for  boys  charge  $1.50  per  half 
year  and  the  master’s  course  in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  costs 
$1.25  for  40  hours’  instruction.  The  commercial  course  is  $1.50 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


63 


for  six  months;  the  single  trade-union  schools  charge  from  $1.50 
to  $2  for  the  half  year  and  the  same  prices  apply  to  all  girls  classes 
in  the  regular  continuation  schools.  The  day  students  in  the  haupt- 
gewerbeschule  pay  $12  per  year;  in  the  wagenbauschule  $25  a 
year;  in  the  kunstgewerbeschule  $12  a year  except  in  painting 
classes,  where  material  costs  $5  extra.  The  technikum  charges 
from  $12.50  to  $18  for  six  months  and  in  the  building  trade  school 
the  tuition  is  from  $6  to  $22.50  a year.  In  Altona  those  apprentices 
who  attend  the  kunstgewerbeschule  pay  $12.50  per  year  for  day 
and  evening  classes,  and  $5  per  year  for  evening  and  Sunday 
classes  with  permission  to  attend  two  day  classes  a week.  The 
domestic  economy  school  in  Altona  is  free;  but  the  principal  one 
in  Hamburg  is  a private  day  school  charging  $35  a year  for  morn- 
ing instruction,  $42.50  with  one  modern  language  added,  $50  from 
9 a.  m.  to  2 p.  m.  with  two'  modern  languages  and  $55  for  work 
from  9 a.  m.  to  3 p.  m.  Single  classes  in  modern  language  cost 
from  $15  to  $20  a year  and  other  classes  from  $5  to  $15  a year. 
Except  for  this  school,  the  additional  finances  needed  for  the  gen- 
eral expenses  are  furnished  by  the  city  and  the  trade-unions 
together. 

The  educational  finances  of  Hamburg  are  disbursed  by  an  ober- 
schulbehiirde  divided  into  four  sections : 

1 For  scientific  institutions,  botanical  gardens,  etc. 

2 For  common  schools 

3 For  higher  schools 

4 For  land  schools 

All  but  the  first  item  of  the  following  table  is  handled  by  this 


board : 

1 Total  expenses  of  the  city $42  845  291  90 

2 Art  gallery  42  965  20 

3 Music  hall  57  500  . . 

4 Common  schools  3 047  656  . . 

5 Higher  schools 752  478  60 

6 Zoological,  botanical  gardens  and  science 333  367  80 

7 All  continuation  and  technical  schools 292  303  . . 

Divisions  of  industrial  school  finances 

8 Commercial  schools,  2278  pupils 18  250  . . 

Tuition  received,  $6000. 

Expended  for  teaching $16  500 

Clerks,  printing,  stamps 675 


64 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


Cleaning  

Light  

9 Girls  commercial  school,  757  pupils. 
Tuition  received,  $1625. 

Expended  for  teaching 

Clerks,  printing,  stamps,  light,  books, 

typewriters  

For  cleaning  


625 

450 


6 750 

1 050 
200 


OOO 


Note.  The  cost  of  buildings,  other  than  light  and  cleaning,  is  not  included  in  the 
above  as,  with  the  exception  of  a normal  training  school  for  men,  they  are  public  day 
schools. 


10  Trade  schools  for  boys,  6281  pupils 


$80  000 


Tuition  received,  $18,750. 

For  teaching  

$60  000 

Models,  shops  and  material  . . . . 

10 

000 

For  cleaning 

2 

225 

For  light  from  $3000  to 

0 

• • • 0 

500 

For  heat,  estimated  

. . . 1 

125 

Note.  Fifteen  to  18  electric  lights  such  as  are  used  in  the  ordinary  shoproom  are  fig- 
ured at  $75  a year.  ^ 

ii  Hauptgewerbeschule,  largest  of  the  schools  in- 
cluded under  topic  10. 

For  boys  2240  pupils. 

Divided  into  wagenbauschule  and  day  and  even- 
ing trade  school. 


Receipts 

25  students  (day)  at  $12 

15  students  (wagon)  at  $25 
2200  students  (regular)  at  $5  . . 


$3°° 
375 
11  000 


Total $11  675 

Approximate  reduction  25$  for  free  places.  ...  2 925 


State  aid 

Total 

Expenses 

Director  

2 teachers,  class  I 

7 teachers,  class  II 


$2  600 
2 700 
7 200 


$8  750 
33  000 

$41  750 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


65 


2 teachers  for  special  work $300 

Teachers  by  the  hour 21  225 

Student  assistants 150 

Room  rent,  special  . . . . 1 800 

Models,  books,  material  and  furni- 
ture   2 250 

Printing  300 

Traveling  expenses 250 

Heating  and  lighting  outside  rooms . 2 250 

Incidentals 550 


Total  $41  575 

Receipts  $41  750 

Expenses  41  575 


Balance  $175 


A few  interesting  comparisons  may  be  made  from  these  figures. 
The  sum  of  items  8,  9 and  10  ($106,250)  is  the  total  cost  of  the 
continuation  schools  for  young  men  and  women  and  apprentices. 
This  amount,  compared  with  item  7,  shows  that  these  schools  re- 
ceive 36  per  cent  of  the  money  expended  by  the  city  on  its  tech- 
nical education.  From  item  4 we  see  that  these  schools  cost  3.4 
per  cent  of  the  sum  devoted  to  common  school  education.  Item 
5 shows  that  the  expense  for  continuation  schools  is  14  per 
cent  of  the  sum  expended  for  higher  education,  and  item  6 shows 
that  the  continuation  schools  cost  only  32  per  cent  of  the  sum 
paid  out  for  zoological  and  botanical  gardens  and  kindred  sci- 
ences. Items  2 and  3 show  that  almost  as  large  a sum  is  de- 
voted to  the  art  gallery  and  music  hall  as  is  expended  for  trade 
school  education ; and  item  1 shows  that  only  one- fourth  of  one  per 
cent  of  the  total  expenses  of  the  city  finds  its  way  into  the  treasury 
of  the  continuation  schools. 

With  this  expenditure,  Hamburg  maintains  one  of  the  best  and 
most  thorough  systems  of  industrial  education  in  Germany;  but 
compulsory  education  would  largely  increase  this  expense. 

Passing  on  to  Altona,  a city  of  180,000  inhabitants,  the  follow- 
ing expenses  are  given : 

Director  $ 1 550 

3 teachers,  class  I 2 400  . . 

Bureau  of  administration  593  .. 


66 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


Teachers  by  the  hour  

11  375 

# % 

Janitor  

125 

Clerks  

550 

Supplies 

550 

00 

Printing  

188 

12 

Incidentals  

Work,  light,  cleaning,  inventory  

1 750 

Barbers  school,  heat  and  light 

37 

5o 

Repairs  

500 

Commercial  school 

Director  

Teaching  force  , 

Janitor  

Supplies  

Rewards  

Printing  

Incidentals  .... 


200  . . 
887  .. 

45  •• 
216  . . 

54  •• 
32  40 
21  60 


$3  456  • ■ 


3 456  . . 


Total  $23  174  62 

This  represents  the  total  expense  of  the  city  of  Altona  for 
gewerbe  and  commercial  schools. 

The  barbers  school,  previously  described,  may  be  given  as  an 
example  of  the  semipublic  school. 


172  pupils $825 

Received  from  the  city  $125 

Received  from  the  union  375 


$500  500 


Remainder  $325 

This  remainder  of  $325  is  made  up  from  tuition  and  gifts. 

A semiprivate  class  in  domestic  economy  for  girls  is  being  well 
conducted  in  Altona.  There  are  30  pupils  and  the  cost  is  $300  per 
year,  including  instruction  but  not  raw  material.  The  class  meets 
two  evenings  per  week  and  material  is  figured  at  15  cents  per. girl 
per  week. 

As  has  been  said  before,  these  figures  are  not  offered  as  cri- 
terions  for  America,  but  as  an  example  of  the  European  results  ob- 
tained by  small,  judicious  expenditures. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


67 


TEXTBOOKS 

If  this  question  of  finance  is  the  greatest  problem  confronting 
those  who  are  to  establish  the  continuation  schools,  the  problems 
of  securing  satisfactory  teachers  and  textbooks  are  equally  difficult 
for  those  who  are  to  continue  to  direct  the  work.  How  these 
German  cities  have  solved  the  first  of  these  difficulties  has  been 
outlined;  the  second  one,  although  long  under  consideration,  is 
far  from  any  solution  that  produces  entirely  satisfactory  results. 

The  entire  system  of  German  trade  education  is  the  result  of 
the  combined  and  coordinated  efforts  of  practical  business  men 
and  professional  school  teachers.  Nowhere  is  this  more  apparent 
than  in  the  textbooks  and  pamphlets.  Except  for  the  textbooks  that 
.are  essentially  technical,  such  as  those  for  use  in  the  workshops 
and  laboratories,  and  the  pamphlets  used  in  the  mechanical  draw- 
ing and  designing  classes,  all  the  books  have  been  written  by  prac- 
tical tradesmen  in  collaboration  with  a professional  teacher  trained 
in  the  arts  of  pedagogy  and  school  economy.  The  practical  man 
is  generally  the  technical  teacher  of  the  subject  treated;  but  he  is 
sometimes  an  outsider,  a member  of  the  union,  who  is  a master 
of  his  trade  but  does  not  teach  it.  This  work  is  sometimes  pre- 
pared and  submitted  to  a committee  of  the  union  which  passes 
upon  it  before  adoption,  and  the  union  is  often  very  particular 
about  the  information  and  problems  to  be  given  in  their  trade  school 
classes.  The  professional  teacher,  who  is  frequently  the  joint 
.author  of  nearly  all  the  textbooks  used  in  his  school,  is  very  often 
a director  of  the  school,  although  this  work  is  done  also  by  teachers 
in  the  specific  classes  for  which  the  book  is  provided.  In  general, 
we  may  say  that  reading  books,  conversation  books,  works  on  the 
history  and  description  of  trades,  textbooks  relating  to  articles, 
tools,  and  materials,  are  written  by  the  director  and  a mechanic, 
the  teacher  and  mechanic,  or  by  the  director  and  a teacher  who 
has  been  given  special  mechanical  training  along  the  line  of  work 
treated  in  the  textbook. 

These  texts  relate  all  the  general  information  they  contain  di- 
rectly to  the  trade  that  is  being  taught.  Thus  arithmetic,  geography, 
history,  and  other  subjects  are  taught  only  so  far  as  they  affect 
this  trade,  and  the  trade  itself  is  at  all  times  emphasized  by  the 
teacher  in  the  classroom,  and  the  fact  that  general  culture  is  in- 
cluded in  the  instruction  is  kept  in  the  background.  Two  examples 
will  suffice  to  illustrate  the  general  makeup  of  these  textbooks. 

The  text  in  arithmetic  used  in  Altona  was  written  by  the  director 

3 


68 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


in  collaboration  with  several  skilled  mechanics.  It  is  in  two 
volumes,  the  first  of  which  is  divided  into  two  parts.  All  the  classes 
are  put  through  the  fundamental  processes  and  general  information 
contained  in  part  I,  such  as  addition,  subtraction,  multiplication, 
division,  practical  parts  of  percentage,  notes,  checks  and  banking, 
receipts,  bills,  transportation,  tables  of  rates,  freight,  packet  post, 
and  interest.  Certain  parts  of  the  latter  work  are  divided  to  suit 
different  groups  of  trade.  The  examples  and  practical  applica- 
tions of  these  principles  are  found  in  part  II,  divided  into  sections 
prepared  especially  for  the  different  trades  so  that  the  plumbers 
and  carpenters  would  be  given  entirely  different  examples  to  illus- 
trate the  same  principles.  The  second  book  is  divided  into  a large 
number  of  parts,  one  for  each  trade.  All  the  advanced  work  is 
taught  in  this  highly  specialized  manner. 

Bookkeeping  is  taught  in  the  same  manner.  The  principles  of 
single  and  double  entry  and  American  bookkeeping  are  taught 
from  the  blackboard  to  all  pupils  alike.  There  are  then  distributed 
to  the  various  trades  a large  number  of  small  pamphlets  containing 
all  manner  of  examples  which  have  been  passed  upon  by  practical 
men  as  arising  in  the  regular  business  routine  of  the  trade  they  are 
intended  to  exemplify. 

A trade  school  reading  book,  while  written  so  as  to  produce  good 
readers  and  cultivate  a literary  style,  contains  articles  on  history 
and  government,  trades,  machines  and  inventors,  unions  and  ap- 
prenticeship, biography  tending  to'  kindle  ambition,  and  those  topics 
directly  or  indirectly  related  to  the  student’s  later  life.  They  are, 
like  the  other  two  books  mentioned,  the  product  of  much  study 
and  experience  and  are  seldom  used  in  any  but  the  school  for 
which  they  are  prepared. 

Even  after  all  this  labor,  there  is  much  dissatisfaction  felt  re- 
garding textbooks;  improvements  are  continually  demanded  by  the 
authors  themselves  and  as  yet  there  has  been  found  no  means  of 
supplying  textbooks  for  any  but  the  particular  school  or  city  in 
which  they  are  produced.  There  are  very  few  general  textbooks 
on  trade  school  education  used  in  Germany. 

SPECIAL  VISITS 

During  the  many  visits  to  the  technical  classes,  attention  was 
called  here  and  there  to  interesting  points  that  do  not  seem  to  fall 
naturally  under  any  one  of  the  general  topics  and  they  are  there- 
fore included  under  this  heading. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


69 


Thus  the  application  of  physics  to  the  trades  as  taught  in  the 
day  classes  of  the  head  trade  school  is  worthy  of  mention.  Here, 
in  a thoroughly  equipped  laboratory,  the  students  deal  with  the 
center  of  gravity  of  walls  variously  constructed,  wind  pressure  on 
chimneys  and  wall,  effect  of  temperature  and  moisture  on  con- 
struction, roof  pressures,  mechanical  laws  and  similar  practical 
calculations.  Boat  builders  deal  with  fluid  pressure,  displacement, 
and  resistance  in  their  scientific  aspects,  in  order  to  better  Under- 
stand the  application  when  made  in  their  regular  classes.  Other 
trades  are  dealt  with  in  the  same  manner. 

In  the  commercial  schools  for  girls  are  classes  in  French  and 
English  conducted  on  the  conversation  principle.  These  classes 
are  largely  attended  by  the  English  teachers  in  the  girls  common 
schools  of  Hamburg.  The  teacher  is  sometimes  a native  and  some- 
times a German,  but  always  able  to  speak  the  language  fluently 
and  to  carry  on  the  work  of  the  class  entirely  in  the  language 
being  taught.  Girls  often  attend  these  classes  to  learn  sufficient 
foreign  language  to  assist  their  parents,  who  trade  with  France 
and  England.  The  instruction  is  absolutely  free.  The  work  ex- 
tends over  two  years,  in  four  half-yearly  courses,  meeting  four 
hours  each  week.  The  courses  include  conversations  in  stores  and 
shops,  simple  letter  writing,  business  letters,  terms  and  expressions, 
besides  the  regular  elementary  grammar  and  the  reading  of  such 
books  as  “ Journeys  in  England  ” for  pronunciation  and  practice 
in  literary  style.  Translations  into  the  home  tongue  are  seldom 
made  in  any  language  classes ; the  advanced  classes  in  stenography, 
however,  transcribe  their  notes  into  both  English  and  German  and 
take  dictation  in  English  to  be  transcribed  into  German.  There  is 
also  an  advanced  conversation  class  in  English  for  common  school 
teachers,  taught  by  an  Englishwoman,  and  similar  classes  in  En- 
glish and  French  for  boys  in  their  own  commercial  schools.  The 
higher  classes  in  English,  French,  and  German  correspondence  for 
boys  include  such  topics  as  state  papers,  state  correspondence,  in- 
terstate commerce,  when  the  state  and  when  the  individual  is  liable 
for  damage  and  neglect,  whose  duty  it  is  to  attend  to  various  points 
relating  to  shipments  over  state  lines  and  such  high  grade  in- 
formation. 

On  a different  plane,  but  equally  important,  comes  the  work  in 
plumbing  classes.  Outlines  of  houses  and  buildings  are  given  and 
these  students  draw  the  piping  for  gas,  water  and  electricity. 
Costs  are  estimated  for  actual  cases,  as  are  the  costs  of  tin  and 


70 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


lead  when  various  methods  of  soldering  are  used.  These  students 
also  study  the  physics  of  the  electric  lamp,  stove  and  motor,  heat, 
conduction,  convection  and  radiation,  simple  geometry  and  its  ap- 
plication in  cutting  tin  and  metal,  and  they  study  thoroughly  the 
sewerage  and  electric  lighting  systems  of  the  city  of  Hamburg. 
They  are  taught  all  the  signs  used  by  the  electricians  upon  their 
plans  and  drawings  and  all  their  general  electrical  terms  and  the 
designation  on  drawings. 

The  milk  boys  study  the  delivery  of  milk  by  shortest  routes  upon 
maps  of  the  city;  they  are  taught  the  methods  of  handling  milk  on 
the  railroad  and  its  times  of  arrival  at  various  stations,  as  shown 
on  the  government  time-tables,  in  addition  to  inspection,  sanita- 
tion and  elementary  chemistry. 

The  butchers  have  colored  charts  of  every  kind  of  meat,  the 
cuts,  prices,  and  outlines  of  animals  for  naming  cuts.  The  lock- 
smiths not  only  make  patterns  of  locks,  keys,  plaster  and  putty 
casts  from  which  actual  keys  and  locks  are  cut,  filed,  polished  and 
put  together,  but  they  are  taught  fancy  locks,  drawing  and  designs 
for  art  doors,  elaborate  locks  and  keys  for  massive  doors,  unique 
ironwork,  fence  and  window  iron,  gates,  fountains,  railings,  and 
the  design  and  construction  of  all  these. 

A noticeable  thing  in  all  trade  school  classes  is  the  excessive 
neatness  in  the  drawing  and  written  work.  Even  the  preliminary 
sketch  must  be  clean  and  presentable  and  the  finished  work,  be  it 
painted,  drawn  or  written,  must  be  without  blemish.  This  is  no- 
where more  apparent  than  in  the  notebooks  which  are  used  to  con- 
tain all  the  written  work,  tables,  blanks,  and  forms,  and  in  the 
practical  work  of  the  classroom  that  is  to  be  kept  for  later  refer- 
ence in  business.  These  books  are  models  of  neatness  and  ar- 
rangement, although  penmanship  is  not  taught  as  such  in  trade 
schools  generally.  This  lack  of  attention  is  often  apparent  in  the 
poor  writing  of  the  pupils. 


ATTENDANCE 

Up  to  this  time  the  internal  working  of  these  schools  has  been 
discussed ; now  we  shall  turn  our  attention  to  what  may  be  called 
the  external  working.  However  well  the  internal  affairs  have 
been  planned'  and  provided  for,  nothing  will  be  done  until  the  pupils 
are  provided  and  arrangements  made  to  secure  their  regular  at- 
tendance. 

There  are  four  distinct  classes  of  schools  in  Germany  so  far  as 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURL  AND  ALTONA 


71 


attendance  is  concerned:  (1)  those  in  which  attendance  is  volun- 
tary ; (2)  those  in  which  the  individual  employer  requires  his 

apprentices  to  attend  classes;  (3)  those  in  which  the  trade-unions 
compel  employers  to  send  their  apprentices  to  trade  schools;  (4) 
those  in  which  there  is  state  compulsory  attendance. 

Practically  all  trade  schools  in  the  German  Empire  began  as 
schools  of  voluntary  attendance  and  have  developed  through  stages 
2,  3 and  4 in  the  order  given.  Hamburg  is  still  in  the  second  and 
third  stages,  but  working  steadily  toward  compulsory  attendance. 
The  fact  that  it  would  nearly  double  the  cost  of  such  schools  is  a 
strong  factor  in  retarding  the  final  adoption  of  compulsory  trade 
schools. 

Prussia  has  had  compulsory  education  for  a number  of  years 
and  Altona  has  a perfectly  working  attendance  system.  In  the 
early  days  it  was  much  more  difficult  to'  get  the  merchants  to  send 
their  apprentices  into  the  trade  schools  than  it  was  to  obtain  boys 
from  the  shops.  The  merchant  had  time  and  ability  to  teach  his 
boys  everything  needed  in  his  special  line,  and  was  slow  to  admit  any 
advantage  in  allowing  them  time  for  schooling;  the  mechanic  early 
recognized  his  inability  to  teach  the  theory  or  any  cultural  subject 
and  was  quick  to'  appreciate  the  gain  to  himself  and  to  his  appren- 
tices afiforded  by  the  trade  classes.  Attendance  was  therefore  better 
in  mechanical  classes  and  this  side  of  the  school  developed  most 
rapidly. 

As  specialization  in  business,  keen  competition,  piecework  and 
the  world  market  crowded  out  the  original  general  dealer  and 
made  higher  educated  clerks  necessary,  the  merchants  fell  into  line 
with  the  masters  and  made  it  possible  to  depend  upon  the  authority 
of  the  employer  for  attendance  in  both  classes  of  schools. 

About  1873  state  compulsory  education  began  to  develop  and 
for  25  years  grew  very  slowly  in  favor,  but  within  the  last  10 
years  nearly  all  the  states  of  the  Empire  have  adopted  it.  Ham- 
burg and  Bremen  being  free  towns  and  having  more  independent 
political  feeling  than  the  states,  have  been  slower  to  force  attend- 
ance upon  the  boys  and  their  masters. 

The  principle  now  used  to  get  apprentices  into  the  Hamburg 
schools  is  to  interest  the  employer,  consult  him  upon  subject  mat- 
ter, bring  the  proposition  before  his  union  and  allow  the  pressure 
upon  the  student  to  come  from  that  side.  How  much  the  master 
and  the  union  are  consulted  regarding  the  daily  program  has  been 
already  discussed.  The  master  is  expected  to  allow  pay  for  all, 
or  at  least  most,  of  the  time  used  by  the  student  in  day  classes. 


72 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


Absences  must  be  excused  in  writing  by  the  master,  as  it  is  his 
time  that  is  lost;  only  under  special  conditions  are  excuses  from 
the  parents  accepted.  Unexcused  absence  is  reported  at  once  to 
the  master,  and  continued  failure  on  his  part  to  correct  this  fault, 
or  if  he  is  keeping  boys  out  of  school  to  do  any  other  work,  is 
considered  sufficient  cause  for  reporting  him  to  his  union,  which 
at  once  brings  pressure  to  bear  upon  him. 

Truancy  occurs  very  seldom.  It  is  found  only  in  the  first  year 
and  usually  during  the  three  months  in  which  the  pupil  is  under- 
going his  trial  period  of  work.  Once  thoroughly  established  in 
the  system,  a German  boy  very  seldom  thinks  of  breaking  it. 

Mention  has  been  made  of  the  exact  and  systematic  method 
which  Altona  uses  to  secure  her  pupils  and  insure  their  regular 
attendance. 

Every  employer  is  compelled  by  law  to  notify  the  school  within 
six  days  of  a contract  made  with  a new  apprentice,  and  these  names 
are  listed  for  comparison.  The  rectors  of  all  day  schools  send  to 
the  trade  school  director  the  names  of  all  boys  leaving  their  schools 
for  any  reason  whatsoever,  and  this  list  compared  with  the  first 
mentioned  shows  the  absentees.  The  police  are  then  notified  and 
look  up  these  people  to  ascertain  why  the  boy  is  not  at  work.  Par- 
ties moving  from  city  to  city  must  notify  the  police  in  each  place; 
any  party  selling,  renting  or  leasing  houses,  rooms  or  any  living 
space  to  another  must  send  the  police  the  names  and  occupations 
of  the  parties  who  are  to  occupy  the  premises. 

There  is  still  another  source  of  information.  When  a laborer’s 
income  is  less  than  $750  yearly,  he  must  take  out  insurance,  and 
as  apprentices  never  earn  any  such  amount,  the  government  in- 
surance list  contains  all  the  new  names. 

Truancy  is  reported  to  the  police  and  the  offenders  are  brought 
into  school  by  the  regular  officers.  Parents  sometimes  refuse  to 
send  their  children  to  night  school,  but  this  happens  only  among  the 
most  ignorant  classes.  It  is  punishable  by  a fine  of  $5  in  the  regu- 
lar courts.  Boys  occasionally  refuse  entirely  to  attend  school  and 
are  arrested  and  fined  $2.50  for  each  offense;  this  never  occurs  ex- 
cept in  the  very  beginning  of  the  school  year.  In  cases  of  mis- 
conduct or  truancy,  a teacher  can  order  a boy  under  arrest  for  one 
hour  and  the  director  can  so  order  him  for  six  hours. 

Absences  other  than  truancy  occur  frequently  in  the  beginning 
among  the  lower  classes,  but  are  infrequent  after  the  first  few 
weeks  in  the  classes  doing  regular  trade  work.  This  corresponds 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA  73 

exactly  with  the  experience  given  for  HamUg^]yyyf^0teJee  •?<&' 
illness  must  be  excused  in  writing  either  by  the  employer  or  parents ; 
but  absences  for  any  other  reason  must  be  arranged  for  with  the 
director  beforehand.  Absence  not  so  excused  may  be  treated  as 
truancy  if  the  director  so  desires.  With  these  stringent  rules  it  is 
unnecessary  to  appeal  to  the  union  as  in  Hamburg;  but  the  unions 
are  of  great  service  to  the  Altona  schools  in  other  respects,  as 
they  are  to  the  schools  in  Hamburg. 


THE  TRADE-UNION 

In  order  to  understand  properly  the  trade-unions  of  Germany,  it 
is  necessary  to  go  back  to  their  very  beginning.  Whereas  unions 
in  the  United  States  were  started  for  the  purpose  of  protecting 
the  laboring  man  from  oppression  by  the  capitalist,  the  innung,  or 
union,  in  Germany  originated  from  a desire  to  protect  the  legiti- 
mate members  and  the  populace  from  imposition  by  inferior  work- 
men in  the  same  trades.  The  union  in  this  country  is  open  to  any 
workman  of  that  trade,  laborer,  journeyman  or  master,  and  because 
the  object  of  the  union  is  equal  rights  for  all  from  a business 
standpoint,  the  skill  of  the  applicant  is  not  a consideration  of  mem- 
bership. 

The  German  innung  is  open  only  to  masters  of  the  trade  who 
by  their  skill  have  proved  their  eligibility  to  that  title,  and  it  is 
not,  therefore,  a trade-union  as  we  employ  the  term.  With  the 
verein,  which  includes  journeymen,  and  is  slowly  growing  in  Ger- 
many for  purposes  similar  to  our  own  trade-union  objects,  the 
trade  schools  have  no  relations  at  present.  Formerly  every  jour- 
neyman had  to  present  for  approval  his  meisterstiick,  an  example 
of  his  work,  before  he  could  become  a master  and  join  the  union. 
The  need  of  more  labor  gradually  lowered  the  standard  and  nearly 
drove  the  practice  out  of  use ; the  instruction  of  apprentices  like- 
wise became  poorer  and  the  pressure  of  rush  work  and  the  adoption 
of  piecework  lowered  the  time  and  quality  of  instruction  until  it 
became  a serious  matter.  With  the  steadying  of  industrial  condi- 
tions, instruction  began  to  improve,  higher  quality  of  work  and 
more  time  was  demanded  of  the  master  for  his  apprentices,  the 
meisterstiick  began  to  reappear  in  certain  trades,  and  innungs  again 
examined  carefully  their  applicants  for  admission.  Thus  on  April 
i,  1909  the  barbers  union  passed  a law  forbidding  any  barber  in 
Hamburg  from  employing  an  apprentice  until  the  barber  had  passed 
his  meisterstiick  examination  before  the  union.  This  is  now  the 
tendency  of  the  unions  in  Hamburg. 


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NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


The  effect  of  this  period  of  retrogression  and  the  knowledge  that 
piecework  defeats  the  aims  of  apprenticeship  to  a great  extent,  has 
made  a lasting  impression  upon  the  minds  of  the  masters;  their 
desire  to  prevent  a return  of  the  first  and  to  provide  an  offset  for 
the  second,  has  made  the  innung  a loyal  champion  of  the  trade 
school.  More  than  50  per  cent  of  the  masters  are  anxious  that 
their  apprentices  attend  the  schools;  those  who  are  against  it  come 
mostly  from  the  uneducated  classes  and  oppose  it  simply  from  the 
point  of  time.  Whether  the  master  desires  it  or  not,  he  is  often 
forced  by  his  union  to  allow  his  apprentices  time  for  attending 
school,  and  in  many  cases  he  is  willing,  and  when  not  willing  is 
compelled,  to  pay  the  tuition  himself.  Something  more  will  be 
said  on  this  branch  of  the  subject  under  the  topic  “ Important 
Industrial  Laws.” 

The  union  itself  establishes  monotechnic  schools  where  those  on 
piecework  can  obtain  the  general  instruction  needed;  it  joins  will- 
ingly in  aiding  the  public  schools  in  advancing  their  courses;  it 
works  hand  in  hand  with  public  trade  schools  and  the  masters  are 
glad  to  arrange  for  such  classroom  instruction  as  their  own  schools 
can  not  offer.  Indeed,  even  the  semiprivate  schools  are  frequently 
championed  by  these  same  employers.  The  union  requires  the 
master  to  give  his  apprentice  certain  personal  instruction  and  time 
off  for  school ; it  requires  the  apprentice  to  attend  school  and  to 
give  certain  hours  of  his  evenings  in  addition  to  the  time  allowed 
him;  it  sets  the  journeyman’s  examination  and  through  the  Cham- 
ber of  Commerce  directs  the  meisterstiick.  It  will  be  seen,  there- 
fore, that  the  trade  schools  have  to  deal  with  a body  of  experi- 
enced, trained,  intelligent  masters  of  trades,  who  are  willing  to 
devote  a part  of  their  time,  money  and  brains  to  the  support  of  the 
schools  and  to  give  consultation  and  advice  upon  the  everyday 
working. 

Not  only  do  the  schools  have  their  advisory  committees,  made 
up  of  masters  from  the  unions,  who  assist  in  the  preparation  of 
textbooks,  pass  judgment  upon  the  practicability  of  examples  and 
problems,  and  carefully  follow  the  work  in  tradecraft,  industrial 
economy  and  the  like,  to  see  that  it  is  adapted  to  practical  needs ; 
but  there  are  also  visiting  committees  that  go  from  class  to  class 
once  or  twice  a year  and  criticize  the  work  being  done. 

These  committees  are  more  active  in  Altona  than  in  Hamburg 
and  are  at  present  devoting  themselves  entirely  to  the  specific 
classes  established  by  their  unions.  These  visits  are  not  the  casual 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA  75 

■“  look  in  ” so  often  given  by  boards  of  supervision.  For  example, 
the  committee  of  master  butchers,  consisting  of  five  men,  all  practi- 
cal butchers,  visited  the  school  during  the  winter  and  invited  the 
writer  to  accompany  them.  They  were  given  chairs  in  various  parts 
of  the  room  and  remained  45  minutes  in  each  recitation.  They  did 
not  hesitate  to  interrupt  the  teacher  and  ask  for  more  information 
from  a student,  to  suggest  further  information  than  that  given  or 
even  to  correct  the  teacher  on  points  of  butchering.  For  instance, 
during  the  process  of  an  example  on  sheep  the  instructor  gave  out 
a certain  weight  of  wool  and  skin  and  an  allowance  for  waste. 
One  of  the  visitors  immediately  called  attention  to  the  fact  that 
so  much  wool  by  weight  would  call  for  a heavier  allowance  for 
skin,  and  the  weights  for  wool  and  skin  would  undoubtedly  give 
3 to  4 pounds  more  waste  than  the  example  called  for.  The  com- 
mittee agreed  that  this  was  SO'  and  the  example  was  accordingly 
changed.  At  the  close  of  the  session  these  gentlemen  went  to  a 
cafe,  gathered  around  a table  and  for  an  hour  and  a half  discussed 
what  they  had  seen.  The  head  teacher  was  present  and  was  able  to 
bring  out  any  phase  of  the  work  desired. 

In  order  that  there  be  no  misunderstanding  regarding  this  mat- 
ter, it  must  be  understood  that  the  butchers’  classes,  although  part 
of  the  regular  continuation  school  and  held  in  the  public  trade 
school  building,  are  more  directly  under  the  union  supervision  than 
most  other  classes.  The  union  pays  the  salary  and  selects  the  head 
teacher  and  is  therefore  possibly  more  interested  in  the  school  than 
those  unions  that  do  not  contribute  so  directly  toward  the  school 
support  and  management. 

GIRLS  PUBLIC  CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS 

So  far  as  the  general  education  of  girls  is  concerned,  their 
preparation  for  business,  trades  and  shops  is  secured  in  special 
classes  of  the  regular  continuation  schools,  but  receives  much  less 
attention  than  that  devoted  to  similar  education  for  men. 

Some  of  these  classes  have  already  been  mentioned,  such  as 
those  in  commercial  branches,  languages  and  special  classes  for 
wives  and  daughters  of  tradesmen ; besides  these  there  are  a few 
classes  for  shopgirls,  and  practically  nothing  else.  There  are  two 
or  three  semiprivate  schools  similar  to  the  trade-union  schools 
for  men,  where  millinery  and  dressmaking  or  ladies’  hairdressing 
may  be  learned,  but  these  are  always  attached  to  a regular  com- 
mercial shop  and  are  not,  strictly  speaking,  schools  at  all.  We  do 


7 6 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


not  find  entire  buildings  devoted  to  the  instruction  of  women  in  the 
history,  science,  mathematics  and  drawing  necessary  for  the  various 
trades  in  which  women  are  becoming  the  conspicuous  workers ; we 
do  not  find  practice  schools  where  girls  can  obtain  practical  instruc- 
tion in  shirtwaist  making,  skirt  making,  shopkeeping,  and  design- 
ing at  night  under  instructors  paid  by  the  city  or  by  the  unions. 
All  this  is  left  to  the  private  school  almost  exactly  as  it  is  in  this 
country,  and  it  is  in  this  subject  of  continued  education  for  girls 
that  America  has  perhaps  least  to  learn  from  Germany. 

There  are,  however,  three  types  of  girls  public  schools  in  do- 
mestic arts  now  being  conducted  in  Altona.  One  is  a normal 
course  for  teachers  of  the  subject;  another  a very  excellent  course 
for  the  children  in  the  common  schools,  this  course  being  also  a 
practice  school  for  the  girls  in  the  normal  class ; and  the  third  and 
most  interesting  of  all,  a course  for  factory  girls  who  come  two 
evenings  a week  to  a specially  prepared  room  in  the  basement  of 
a public  building  and  are  instructed  in  cooking  and  homemaking. 
This  course  is  partially  supported  by  donations,  and  on  the  evening 
of  my  visit  was  being  inspected  by  a lady  who  was  financiering 
entirely  at  her  own  expense  a similar  course  for  poor  girls. 

The  instruction  included  plain,  everyday  cooking  ; simple  chem- 
istry of  cooking;  relative  values  of  various  kinds  of  foods;  care 
of  the  kitchen,  cooking  utensils,  stove  and  fires;  and  lessons  on 
serving,  dining  room  arrangement  and  menu. 

A course  very  similar  to  this  is  given  to  the  girls  from  the  first, 
second,  and  to  some  from  the  third  class  of  the  common  schools, 
in  a building  devoted  entirely  to  this  purpose  and  situated  adjacent 
to  one  of  the  large  volkschulen.  In  addition  to  the  usual  work, 
the  children  prepare  and  eat  their  noonday  meal  in  this  school,  wash 
and  put  away  all  the  dishes,  launder  their  own  table  linen,  aprons 
and  towels,  and  receive  such  general  instruction  as  is  indicated  by 
the  course  laid  out  for  the  normal  class.  This  is  the  practice  school 
of  the  normal  girls,  who  are  the  only  assistants  to  the  head  of  the 
department. 

These  girls  receive  a very  thorough  course  beginning  each  day 
with  a consideration  of  the  menu  card  and  the  menu  for  the  day, 
followed  by  a description  and  the  actual  preparation  of  the  food, 
and  lastly  the  cooking.  During  the  time  necessary  for  cooking, 
the  teacher  discusses  the  nourishing  properties  of  the  food,  and  its 
specific  qualities  and  wholesomeness.  When  the  meal  is  ready  a 
table  is  laid  to  correspond  with  whatever  occasion  the  menu  was 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


77 


designed,  and  the  food  is  eaten.  Afterwards  everything  is  cleaned 
and  put  in  order.  Besides  cooking,  the  students  are  taught  bed 
making,  healthful  methods  of  clothing,  nursing  the  sick  and  care 
of  children,  special  foods  for  the  sick  and  for  children,  and  house- 
hold management. 

The  teacher  believes  that  the  work  should  be  taught  to  the  chil- 
dren in  the  common  schools  as  class  instruction  and  that  the  tasks 
should  be  so  regulated  that  as  far  as  possible  all  the  students  will 
acquire  a high  degree  of  proficiency.  She  most  emphatically  says, 
however,  that  it  is  not  her  chief  aim  to  produce  skill  and  knowledge 
in  her  pupils,  but  to  train  them  as  homemakers  in  the  largest  sense 
of  the  term.  She  considers  that  the  first  duty  of  the  school  is  to 
teach  virtue,  order,  patience,  helpfulness,  economy  and  cleanliness. 

There  is  one  class  in  the  public  continuation  schools  of  Altona 
that  is  doing  millinery,  sewing,  fancy  needlework,  woodcarving  and 
burning  much  the  same  as  that  work  is  taught  under  manual  train- 
ing ; but  for  the  serious  study  of  woman’s  work  we  must  look 
to  the  girls  private  school  of  Hamburg. 

GIRLS  PRIVATE  SCHOOL  AT  HAMBURG 

This  school  is  maintained  under  almost  the  exact  conditions 
found  in  Pratt  Institute,  Brooklyn,  or  Mechanics  Institute,  Roches- 
ter. It  is  a private  institution  receiving  no  assistance  from  the 
city  and  located  in  a very  substantial  brick  building  purchased  by 
means  of  an  endowment. 

The  course  of  study  includes  German  language  and  literature, 
French,  English,  writing,  arithmetic,  algebra  and  geometry,  nature 
study  and  science,  bookkeeping,  housekeeping,  housekeepers’  ac- 
counts, kindergarten,  history,  geography,  history  of  art,  hygiene, 
civil  government,  handwork,  trimming,  millinery,  washing,  ironing, 
sewing  machine  practice,  embroidery,  drawnwork,  drawing,  pat- 
tern cutting,  dressmaking,  sewing,  mending  and  knitting. 

Each  girl  has  her  own  separate  program  of  work  made  out  on 
entering  and  is  assigned  to  one  of  the  special  departments  into 
which  the  school  is  divided.  There  is  the  handworker  school,  up- 
per and  lower  division,  each  requiring  one-half  year  of  work.  In 
this  department  is  done  the  actual  handwork,  excepting  such  as  is 
purely  artistic  and  comes  under  a department  of  its  own.  The 
regular  t school  is  another  department,  teaching  the  languages, 
science,  and  the  theory  required  for  the  handworker  school.  There 
is  also  the  kindergarten,  nursery  and  governess  school  and  another 


78 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


department,  the  commercial  school,  giving  typewriting,  stenography, 
trade,  transportation,  and  preparation  for  teaching  the  same.  This 
second  department  prepares  for  the  government  examinations  as 
private  secretary,  bureau  officers,  court  reporters  and  similar  posi- 
tions. The  school  of  artistic  design  offers  drawing,  designs  for 
needlework,  lace  making  and  embroidery,  patterns  for  cloths,  car- 
pets, rugs  and  tapestry,  lithographing,  wood  cutting  and  burning, 
costuming  and  a course  for  the  preparation  of  drawing  teachers. 
A similar  school  for  the  preparation  of  teachers  in  the  domestic 
arts  is  also  a feature.  Here  is  done  all  needlework,  cooking,  sewing 
machine  work,  fine  washing,  table  decoration  and  service  and 
dietary  chemistry,  with  the  study  of  the  pedagogy  of  each.  A 
course  for  housewives  assembles  all  the  foregoing  domestic  sub- 
jects into  a practical  course  without  pedagogy  and  with  very  little 
theory,  while  a separate  school  for  servants  adds  to  cooking,  house- 
work, washing  and  ironing,  the  very  important  subjects  of  garden- 
ing, sick  nursing,  care  of  fowls  and  animals,  sanitation  and  health 
and  a course  in  the  direction  of  underservants. 

With  the  advent  of  compulsory  education  it  is  hoped  to  estab- 
lish classes  similar  to  those  in  the  private  school  with  more  em- 
phasis thrown  on  the  industrial  and  factory  side  of  the  question 
and  to  open  these  classes  to  girls  in  the  free  public  continuation 
schools. 


CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS  IN  SMALL  PLACES 

Not  only  are  schools  like  the  above  restricted  to  cities,  but  even 
the  commercial  classes  and  girls  continuation  classes  are  found  only 
in  the  larger  places.  Harburg,  a city  of  over  60,000  inhabitants, 
has  a fine  brick  building  well  equipped  for  its  continuation  school 
and  classes  for  men  in  nearly  all  the  subjects  offered  in  Hamburg. 
Several  of  the  illustrations  given  earlier  in  the  report,  especially 
the  bakers,  were  taken  from  this  school,  and  yet  practically  no 
provision  whatever  is  made  for  the  education  of  girls. 

So  far  as  the  boy  apprentices  are  concerned,  in  cities  like  Har- 
burg and  others  ranging  from  30,000  to  60,000  people,  the  trades 
represented  in  continuation  classes  will  be  almost  as  numerous  as  in 
the  largest  cities.  Very  naturally  the  location  will  determine  what 
trades  are  to  be  provided  for,  and  when  for  reasons  of  location 
and  size  some  trade  does  not  appear  in  the  innungs,  the  schools  are 
smaller  by  that  trade  class  and  consequently  the  number  will  not  be 
fully  equal  to  the  number  found  in  Berlin  or  Hamburg.  The  ac- 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


79 


tivities  of  the  place,  however,  are  as  fully  covered  by  the  trade 
classes  as  in  any  city  and  the  work  is  very  largely  the  same. 

When  it  is  said  that  there  are  nearly  as  many  trades  in  these 
schools,  that  does  not  mean  nearly  as  many  classes.  The  combined 
classes,  where  trades  that  are  at  all  allied  in  any  subject  are  put 
together,  are  now  the  most  important  ones.  Those  trades  repre- 
sented by  one  or  two  apprentices  each,  are  grouped  into  classes 
where  the  general  instruction  is  supplemented  by  a great  deal  of 
industrial  teaching. 

As  a type  of  still  smaller  school  may  be  mentioned  the  one  in 
Blankenese,  a village  of  about  5000,  on  Prussian  soil,  one-half 
hour’s  ride  from  Hamburg.  This  school  is  conducted  only  in  the 
winter  months  and  provides  instruction  only  for  men  who'  are  em- 
ployed in  the  most  important  industries  of  the  vicinity.  The  classes 
are  largely  made  up  of  laborers  unemployed  at  this  season  and  of 
apprentices  sent  in  by  the  more  enlightened  employers.  No  effort 
is  made  to  force  attendance  or  to  provide  especially  for  a large 
number  of  odd  apprentices  who  might  otherwise  be  induced  to  at- 
tend. With  the  coming  of  open  weather  and  the  beginning  of  farm- 
ing and  building,  the  school  closes. 

In  places  of  this  size  the  state  of  Prussia  does  not  make  con- 
tinuation school  attendance  obligatory.  In  some  places  the  province 
enacts  a law  reaching  these  smaller  schools  and  in  other  places  the 
“ kreis,”  a still  smaller  division,  has  made  attendance  at  its  con- 
tinuation schools  compulsory;  but  many  places  like  Blankenese  do 
not  come  under  either  of  these  heads  and  the  feeling  is  rapidly 
growing  that  the  state  should  take  some  action  to  place  them  all 
on  a similar  compulsory  footing. 

ATTITUDE  OF  TRADESMEN  AND  APPRENTICES 

Among  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  entire  study  of  in- 
dustrial education  were  the  conferences  with  people  who  were  in- 
directly or  not  at  all  connected  with  the  schools,  in  order  to  ascer- 
tain the  general  feeling  along  these  lines.  Two  things  were  ap- 
parent at  the  outset ; the  people  as  a whole  are  believers  in  con- 
tinuation school  education  whenever  they  are  obliged  to  express 
an  opinion  for  or  against  it,  and  the  system  has  become  such  an 
accepted  part  of  the  German  educational  idea  that  it  no  more  oc- 
curs to  the  ordinary  citizen  to  doubt  its  value  or  criticize  other 
than  points  of  administration,  than  it  occurs  to  a German  to  doubt 
the  usefulness  of  common  public  schools.  The  masters  believe  in 


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NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


it  strongly  but  they  divide  on  the  question  of  day  and  evening 
classes.  Several  of  them  declared  positively  that  apprentices  could 
do  as  good  work  in  the  evening  as  in  the  daytime  and  might  much 
better  be  in  school  than  running  the  streets.  They  affirmed  that 
it  was  a waste  of  time  and  money  to  send  the  boys  to  school  during 
part  of  their  working  hours,  which  encouraged  a tendency  to  idle 
along  the  streets.  The  writer,  however,  observed  that  pupils,  al- 
most without  exception,  left  the  schools  immediately  upon  the  close 
of  classes  and  hurried  away  either  to  homes  or  shops  without  any 
lingering  groups.  They  were  seldom  seen  to  stop  either  in  the 
school  or  on  the  street,  and  many  of  them  used  bicycles,  going  and 
coming  in  the  least  possible  time.  A barber  in  Altona  complained 
of  the  time  lost  by  his  boys  in  attending  the  day  classes  but  was 
eager  to  praise  the  work  done  in  the  practice  school  in  the  evening. 
An  upholsterer  in  St  Pauli  said  the  boys  were  taken  out  of  his  shop 
at  exactly  the  time  of  day  he  needed  them  most,  but  he  was  favor- 
able to  day  classes  if  arranged  to  suit  the  convenience  of  the  trade. 
Other  masters  maintained  as  firmly  that  the  best  work  could  not 
be  done  at  night  and  that  those  who  opposed  the  day  classes  really 
believed  in  them  but  did  not  wish  to  allow  pay  for  the  school  hours. 
In  Hamburg  only  a few  employers  have  refused  to  send  their  men 
to  day  classes,  although  perhaps  40  per  cent  of  them  would  rather 
have  all  evening  work. 

The  parents  questioned  shared  the  same  indifference  previously 
mentioned  as  existing  among  the  apprentices.  There  was  very 
little  opposition  from  them  because  of  the  cost.  The  tuition  is 
often  a tax  on  the  master.  Complaint  was  never  made  as  to  the 
material  and  books  used  by  the  students.  In  Hamburg  there  are 
many  free  scholarships  for  poor  boys,  where  poverty  is  the  only 
requirement  for  a scholarship  and  most  of  the  text  material  is  in- 
cluded in  the  tuition  fee  of  the  others.  One  father  objected  to 
the  school  because  he  thought  the  masters  used  it  as  a means  of 
teaching  a political  philosophy  favorable  to  their  own  ends;  an- 
other was  equally  opposed  because  he  said  the  masters  paid  less 
for  their  apprentices’  work  since  they  incurred  the  added  expenses 
of  trade  education.  Not  one  person,  however,  wished  to  abolish 
the  schools.  A few  parents  in  Altona  objected  to  compulsory  edu- 
cation because  their  sons  went  to  Hamburg  where  they  attended 
the  school  of  their  own  free  will.  Several  of  the  employers  re- 
sented compulsory  education  because  they  believed  the  student 
should  be  approached  through  his  work  and  not  by  law.  Others 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA  8l 

considered  the  law  the  easiest  and  most  practical  means  and  scouted 
the  idea  that  the  source  of  compulsion  had  any  effect  upon  the  in- 
dustrial attitude  of  young  apprentices. 

Two  members  of  the  city  council  in  Altona  were  opposed  to 
the  schools  as  they  were  being  conducted,  because  of  the  cost,  and 
one  of  them  suggested  that  the  schools  might  be  combined,  dividing 
much  of  the  work  of  the  continuation  schools  between  the  common 
schools  and  the  middle  schools,  with  a great  saving  of  expense  to 
the  city.  The  school  men  meet  this  argument  with  the  reply  that 
the  trade  school  approaches  the  entire  educational  problem  from  a 
standpoint  absolutely  different  from  that  of  the  regular  schools,  and 
that  to  adopt  common  school  methods  or  attach  the  teaching  to 
any  course  not  solely  related  to  actual  trade,  would  stultify  the  use- 
fulness of  the  schools.  Contrary  to  the  repeated  statement  that  the 
continuation  schools  were  frequently  fitting  schools  for  more  ad- 
vanced courses,  the  director  of  the  Royal  machine  building  school 
in  Altona  stated  that  very  few  students  of  the  trade  schools  ever 
entered  his  institution,  and  when  they  did  their  previous  training 
was  of  very  little  value.  On  the  other  hand,  the  head  trade  school 
in  Hamburg  and  also  the  school  for  the  building  trades  have  in 
their  classes  many  journeymen  who  obtained  their  fitness  for  en- 
trance in  the  regular  continuation  schools. 

It  was  distinctly  noticeable  that  graduates  of  continuation  schools 
were  always  loyal  to  those  schools  and  never  questioned  the  value 
of  the  training  they  had  received.  In  every  instance  the  journey- 
men and  masters  who  had  been  educated  in  these  schools  were 
strongly  in  favor  of  their  continuance  along  the  present  lines ; the 
masters  were  outspoken  in  their  desire  that  their  apprentices  attend 
the  schools,  and  in  nearly  every  case  where  an  employer  was 
found  ready  to  champion  the  extension  of  the  scope  and  influence 
of  trade  schools  even  at  increased  cost,  he  was  found  to  have  re- 
ceived his  own  education  in  continuation  schools.  Some  of  the 
largest  employers  of  labor,  themselves  educated  in  higher  schools, 
took  a similar  stand. 

STARTING  A NEW  SYSTEM  OF  CONTINUATION  SCHOOLS 

To  reach  those  who  are  indifferent  or  opposed,  the  school  au- 
thorities have  definite  systems  ' of  procedure.  This  opposition  or 
indifference  is  a larger  factor  when  new  schools  or  new  classes  are 
to  be  formed  than  at  any  other  time.  For  this  reason  Inspector 
Kasten  believes  that  a new  system  of  continuation  schools  should 


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NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


be  started  from  the  commercial  side,  with  freewill  attendance  and 
a few  classes  having  sessions  only  in  the  evening.  Commercial 
classes  cost  less  than  trade  classes,  teachers  are  easier  to  find  and 
less  expensive  and  students  are  apt  to  be  of  a better  class.  These 
few  classes  should  be  well  advertised,  emphasizing  the  fact  that 
the  course  includes  nothing  but  practical  work  related  directly  to 
business  affairs.  Stress  should  also  be  laid  upon  the  fact  that 
the  teacher  is  a practical  business  man  who  is  in,  or  is  capable  of 
going  into,  the  line  of  business  taught  and  earning  his  living  there,, 
and  upon  the  fact  that  the  class  is  no  part  of  a common  school  or 
a continuation  of  the  work  as  done  in  common  schools.  Separate 
this  course  as  far  as  possible  from  all  connection  with  “ school  ” ; 
relate  it  ever  to  “ work  ” ; see  that  the  teachers  are  competent, 
especially  competent  to  open  up  the  subject  from  the  right  view- 
point. If  they  are  elementary  teachers,  let  that  be  no  part  of  their 
recommendation,  but  see  that  they  are  specially  trained  and  have  the 
“ spirit  ” of  a trade  school  and  advertise  this  fact  as  important. 
Let  it  be  known  through  the  local  papers  and  trade  journals  and 
by  notices  in  the  business  houses  and  shops  which  are  affected  by 
the  new  classes.  The  following  is  a translation  of  such  an  ad- 
vertisement : 

Hamburg,  March  n,  ipog 

Grosse  allee  4S 

From  the  school  inspector  of  the  industrial  schools 

Your  attention  is  called  to  a proposal  of  the  Board  of  Retail 
Merchants  submitted  Oct.  8,  1908,  to  establish  a continuation  school 
for  salesgirls.  The  following  has  been  the  result:  the  governing 
board  of  the  trades  schools  has  decided  to  run  a continuation  school 
for  salesgirls  beginning  with  the  summer  half-year.  The  course 
will  be  given  in  the  Boskmann  public  school  building  and  will  start 
April  15th. 

The  following  is  a brief  sketch  of  the  organization:  There  shall 
be  two  divisions,  lower  and  upper,  each  running  for  one-half  year. 
The  hours,  four  per  week,  are  from  8 to  10  a.  m.  on  Monday  and 
Thursday  for  the  lower  division,  and  8 to  10  a.  m.  Tuesday  and 
Friday  for  the  upper  division.  In  order,  however,  to  meet  the 
wishes  of  various  employers,  it  has  been  arranged  that  when  suffi- 
cient girls  in  any  one  firm  are  registered,  the  lower  division  shall 
have  a second  part  so  that  half  of  such  girls  may  come  Monday 
and  Thursday  and  the  other  half  Tuesday  and  Friday. 

The  work  will  be  in  the  hands  of  entirely  practical  men  ac- 
quainted with  all  the  needs  of  the  retail  business. 

Tuition  is  $1.50  per  half-year  and  must  be  paid  on  registration. 
Registration  will  take  place  March  22,  23  and  24,  from  6 to  8 p.  m., 
in  the  commercial  continuation  school  for  girls,  Koppel  98. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


8? 


When  registration  is  made  by  the  firm,  a list  giving  full  names 
of  all  girls  so  registered  is  to  be  handed  in.  To  each  registered 
student  is  given  a receipt  and  a school  card ; the  latter  is  to  be 
presented  on  the  first  day  of  instruction  as  evidence  of  enrolment. 

All  further  information  will  be  gladly  supplied  by  the  under- 
signed. 

Respectfully, 

A.  Kasten 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  employers  were  the  suggesters  of 
this  course  and  'that  they  were  also  consulted  as  to  hours.  The 
plan  is  at  first  to  consult  them  upon  all  the  details  of  the  school 
and  arrange  to  fit  the  practical  demand.  The  inspector  personally 
visits  all  the  merchants  effected,  points  out  the  course  and  its  possi- 
bilities, requests  suggestions  and  seeks  their  cooperation.  The 
course  of  study  at  this  time  is  especially  referred  to  the  merchants’ 
committee  and  is  always  open  to  its  suggestions. 

Upon  receiving  the  request  from  the  retail  merchants  the  in- 
spector went  before  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  interested  their 
leaders  and  had  a meeting  called.  He  addressed  the  meeting,  laid 
the  plans  before  it  for  discussion  and  finally  obtained  its  support. 
The  various  merchants  agreed  to  send  their  girls  to  the  school  and 
signed  their  names,  stating  the  number  of  shopgirls  they  were  em- 
ploying. The  Chamber  of  Commerce  reported  this  meeting  to  the 
continuation  school  board  and  the  classes  were  soon  in  process  of 
organization. 

In  starting  a trade  school  the  inspector  first  approaches  the  mas- 
ter of  the  trade-union  and  determines  whether  he  will  support  such 
a school.  He  asks  if  the  union  would  like  to  hold  a meeting  and 
have  him  address  them  and  present  the  plan  of  work  under  consid- 
eration. After  discussing  various  plans  and  times  of  instruction 
the  master  is  left  to  talk  the  matter  over  with  his  union  and  if  they 
are  favorable,  the  meeting  is  called  and  the  plans  agreed  upon.  Any 
employers  who  were  not  at  the  meeting  are  visited  in  person  and 
consulted  as  in  the  case  cited  above. 

When  it  comes  time  for  advertisements,  they  are  written  up  as  in 
the  first  case,  only  the  stress  is  even  more  strongly  laid  upon  the  fact 
that  a tradesman  will  have  charge  of  the  work,  which  will  be  related 
to  the  needs  of  everyday  practice.  To  begin  a class  a teacher  should 
be  always  sufficiently  master  of  the  trade  to  be  classed  as  a trades- 
man and  not  a school  teacher,  and  all  relation  to  the  word  “ school  ” 
should  be  kept  in  the  background.  It  is  unnecessary  to  more  than 
mention  that  the  teacher  must  be  a strong  and  capable  man. 


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NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


Schools  of  both  kinds  mentioned  should  begin  modestly  and  grow 
only  with  the  demand.  It  is  a serious  mistake  to  start  a large  num- 
ber of  classes  at  once  in  a new  place,  or  to  demand  new  and  elabor- 
ate buildings  with  workshops  and  expensive  equipment.  The  work- 
shop should  follow  the  classroom  instruction  in  a year  or  two,  be- 
ginning with  a few  pieces  of  apparatus  not  found  in  shops  where 
piecework  is  done,  and  by  supplying  that  part  of  the  apprentice's 
general  training  which  he  can  not  get  in  his  shop.  They  grow  in 
favor  until  they  can  be  established  as  important  adjuncts  of  the 
school. 

When  it  comes  to  figuring  expense,  the  “ class-hour  ” plan  should 
be  adopted.  Five  classes,  four  hours  per  week,  are  twenty  class- 
hours  and  require  room  for  twenty  recitations.  The  cost  of  such 
room,  if  rented,  is  so  much;  if  not  rented  the  heating  for  twenty 
hours  and  the  lighting  for  twenty  hours  will  be  such  an  amount  per 
week.  The  teacher’s  salary  is  also  reckoned  by  class-hours,  and  in 
the  United  States  will  probably  average  $1.00  per  class-hour.  Clean- 
ing of  rooms  and  workshops  is  of  course  reckoned  only  on  floor 
space,  but  the  materials  used  in  drawing  and  painting  classes  and 
workshops  may  most  easily  be  computed  by  class-hours  multiplied 
by  the  average  number  of  pupils  per  class. 

The  one  point  of  greatest  importance  in  starting  an  entirely  new 
school  is  to  be  certain  of  the  demand  for  each  class  before  it  is  pro- 
jected and  of  the  support  of  the  employers  before  the  class  is  deter- 
mined upon.  The  most  important  point  regarding  equipment  is  to 
be  sure  of  the  need  and  usefulness  of  every  piece  of  apparatus  asked 
for  and  be  prepared  to  state  precisely  what  will  be  done  with  it  and 
wherein  it  is  valuable  to  the  student. 

MEETINGS  FOR  EDUCATIONAL  DISCUSSION 

This  topic  owes  its  right  of  admission  into  this  report  to  the 
close  relationship  existing  between  general  educational  thought  in 
Germany  and  vocational  training.  Public  meetings  called  by  some 
important  political  or  educational  officer  or  board  are  frequently 
held  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  feeling  of  the  people  on 
certain  topics  and  with  an  idea  of  creating  or  influencing  public 
sentiment  in  favor  of  further  improvement.  These  meetings  are 
largely  attended  and  debate  is  usually  spirited,  often  heated ; they 
not  frequently  last  four  or  five  hours.  Industrial  education  is  al- 
most invariably  one  of  the  main  topics,  if  not  the  principal  issue, 
and  the  interest  manifested  in  any  trade  school  problem  is  very 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA  85 

keen.  As  a specific  example  of  what  one  of  these  meetings  is  like, 
the  following,  which  was  an  advertisement  in  the  form  of  hand- 
bills and  newspaper  notices,  is  here  inserted : 

Altona  in  January  1909 

On  Friday  the  15  Jan.,  1909,  8 o’clock  p.  m.,  in  the  assembly  hall 
of  the  State  Museum  will  be  held  a meeting  for  the  consideration 
of  the  descriptions  of  a few  methods  of  further  advancing  our 
schools. 

Lecture  — Herr  Stadtschulrat  Wagner  on  the  “ Mannheimer  Sys- 
tem ” 

Lecture  — Herr  Fortbildungsschuldirektor  Trenkner  on  “The  Pur- 
pose and  Goal  of  the  Trade  Continuation  School  ” 

Lecture  — Herr  Mittelschulrektor  Schmarje  on  “The  Purpose  and 
Goal  of  the  Commercial  Continuation  School  ” 

Following  these  lectures  a general  discussion  will  take  place.  To 
this  meeting,  have  been  most  respectfully  invited: 

Senator  Dr  Harbeck 

Chairman  of  the  School  of  Deputation 

Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Continuation  Trade  Schools 

Chairman  of  the  Board  of  Continuation  Commercial  Schools 

The  meeting  opened  at  8.15  p.  m.  with  Dr  Harbeck  in  the  chair. 
There  were  present  members  of  the  city  council,  school  board,  com- 
mittees of  commercial  and  trade  continuation  school  boards,  direk- 
tors.  of  higher  schools,  rektors  of  middle  and  lower  schools,  teach- 
ers, master  workmen,  heads  of  different  trade-unions,  busi- 
ness men,  mechanics  and  tradesmen.  No  women  were  present. 
Three  main  questions  were  considered : “ The  Mannheimer  System 
of  Differentiated  Schools  ” ; “ The  advisability  of  extending  the 
trade  schools  or  curtailing  them  to  save  cost  ” ; and  “ The  Commer- 
cial School  as  a Day  School.” 

Schulrat  Wagner  strongly  urged  the  adpotion  of  the  Mannheimer 
system  in  Altona.  It  relates  only  to  common  school  work,  divides 
grades  into  subdivisions  according  to  the  ability  of  various  groups 
of  children  and  adds  a help  school  for  weak-minded  children.  All 
children  start  alike  in  the  first  grade.  As  soon  as  possible  they  are 
divided,  the  brightest  going  into  division  I,  the  next  group  into 
division  II  doing  work  slightly  less  advanced,  and  the  remainder 
into  division  III  which  starts  the  work  at  the  very  beginning  and 
receives  the  new  children.  Children  may  be  advanced  from  one 
division  to  another  if  they  improve  later  on.  Two  divisions  are 
usually  in  one  room,  but  whenever  possible  only  one  in  a room. 
Schools  should  have  records  of  each  child’s  environment;  full  re- 


86 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


ports  should  be  made;  medical  inspection  should  determine  the 
feeble-minded  candidates  for  the  help  school.  The  speaker  pre- 
sented abundant  practical  and  pedagogical  argument  to  support  his- 
position  and  favorable  action  was  taken  by  the  meeting. 

Direktor  Trenkner  said  in  part  that  it  was  not  alone  the  aim  of 
the  continuation  school  to  give  special  trade  instruction,  but  some 
general  education  as  well.  He  reasoned  that  most  children  in  the 
volkschulen  are  too  young  to  appreciate  their  advantages ; they  come 
to  trade  schools  still  too  young  and  with  their  minds  on  other  things. 
They  develop  with  age,  by  contact  with  men,  in  their  relation  to 
trade;  they  see  the  need  for  more  education  and  their  minds  be- 
come centered  upon  a definite  object.  Now,  he  argues,  is  the  proper 
time  to  introduce  some  general  education  and  the  continuation  trade 
schools  should  be  prepared  to  do  it.  (A  literal  translation  of  most 
of  Direktor  Trenkner’s  speech  will  be  found  at  the  close  of  this- 
report.) 

The  remarks  as  stated  above  were  heartily  approved  by  all  the 
school  men  present,  many  of  the  masters  and  most  of  the  business 
men.  They  were  opposed  by  two  city  officials  who  objected  to  the 
cost  and  thought  the  common  schools  should  be  so  combined  as  to 
give  all  the  general  education  required  and  leave  only  the  technical 
to  the  vocational  institutions.  Several  important  business  men,  a. 
few  trade-union  men  and  nearly  every  tradesman  present  who  had 
himself  been  educated  in  the  evening  classes,  indorsed  Dr  Trenkner 
regardless  of  cost.  A second  recommendation,  that  of  more  day 
and  less  evening  classes,  because  apprentices  were  tired  at  night,, 
was  supported  by  nearly  all  the  school  men,  by  a few  masters,  and 
by  a large  number  of  merchants  and  mechanics  who  had  studied 
the  boys’  conditions  in  the  evening.  It  was  opposed  by  two  masters 
on  the  ground  of  lost  time  and  bad  street  influences  upon  idle  boys 
at  night.  The  meeting  agreed  that  the  occupation  determined  the 
fitness  for  evening  work  and  some  day  classes  were  desirable. 

The  most  important  recommendation  was  for  a vorschule  for 
boys  coming  from  class  III  of  the  day  schools  who  needed  more 
common  school  education ; a second  division  for  apprentices  from 
classes  II  and  I with  less  general  education  and  specific  trade  work 
added ; and  a third  division  for  machine-builders  and  those  engaged 
in  higher  designing  in  artistic  trades.  Dr  Trenkner  supported  his 
request  for  class  III  by  saying  that  a large  number  of  boys  were 
anxious  to  attend  the  machinenbauschule  and  kunstgewerbeschule 
but  were  prevented  by  the  cost.  They  came  to  him  and,  perhaps, 
by  receiving  initial  instruction  could  later  on  attend  the  other  schools. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTON  A 


He  urged  them  to  go  whenever  they  could.  This  was  opposed  by 
the  same  city  officials  because  of  the  cost  and  the  direktor  of  the 
.-state  machine  building  school  said  that  very  few  boys  came  to  him 
from  the  trade  schools  and  what  they  had  previously  learned  was 
of  little  use  to  them. 

Stricter  compulsory  laws  for  trade  schools  were  opposed  by 
some  because  the  proximity  of  Hamburg  was  drawing  boys  to  its 
•elective  schools,  and  it  was  argued  that  the  average  attendance  in 
Hamburg  was ’better  than  in  Altona.  Teachers  and  various  others 
supported  firmer  laws,  claiming  that  50  per  cent  of  the  pupils  would 
not  attend  regularly  unless  compelled. 

The  trade  workers  themselves  seemed  always  to  favor  any  prop- 
osition for  the  advancement  of  the  schools  or  enforcement  of  laws. 

Direktor  Schmarje  of  the  commercial  school  claimed  that  edu- 
cation in  his  school  must  be  broader  than  in  the  trade  school  because 
one  business  man  dealt  with  more  phases  of  world  activity  than  a 
trade  worker  would  ever  meet.  Everything  pertaining  to  business 
was  his  field,  general  as  well  as  specific  occupations.  The  business 
Toy  must  go  further  in  all  the  common  branches  than  the  trade  ap- 
prentice and  should  never  come  at  night  because  he  sits  indoors  all 
day.  There  was  no  opposition  to  this  report. 

Interest  in  the  entire  meeting  was  great;  debates  were  general; 
and  a call  for  another  meeting  was  made  to  further  discuss  the 
appropriations  needed.  The  hall  was  practically  filled,  about  four 
liundred  persons  being  present.  The  meeting  lasted  four  hours, 
•closing  a few  minutes  after  midnight. 

From  the  proportion  of  time  in  this  meeting  devoted  to  continua- 
tion school  topics,  from  the  class  and  size  of  the  audience  and  the 
Tour  of  adjournment,  some  idea  may  be  drawn  of  the  interest  the 
German  citizen  feels  in  his  trade  schools. 

GENERAL  GOVERNMENT  OF  EDUCATIONAL  INSTITUTIONS 

It  may  be  of  interest  to  know  how  the  educational  institutions  in 
Germany  are  divided  for  government  by  the  state.  The  volkschule 
or  common  school,  the  mittelschule  or  middle  school,  and  the  real- 
schule  or  advanced  middle  school  leading  to  business  have  already 
been  touched  upon.  In  addition  to  these  there  is  the  oberrea’schule^ 
a school  of  nine  years’  instruction  besides  its  vorschule  of  three 
years’  primary  work,  giving  modern  language,  science,  history  etc. 
preparatory  to  business ; the  realgymnasium,  Latin  and  modern 
more  stress  on  the  classical  side ; and  the  gymnasium,  the  Latin 
and  Greek  classical  school.  There  are  also  classes  of  schools 


88 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


governed  directly  by  the  national  government  and  not  subject  to 
local  control,  such  as  the  koniglische  machinenbauschule,  naviga- 
tionschule,  and  lastly  the  hochschule  and  technischehochschule, 
which  are  really  universities. 

The  common  schools  and  middle  schools  are  governed  as  follows, 
beginning  with  the  rektor  or  lowest  executive : 

1 Rektor,  principal 

2 Schulrat,  similar  to  city  superintendent 

3 Kuratorium,  board  for  business  management  only 

4 Regierungs  schulrat  for  common  schools,  superintendent  over 

a subdivision  of  the  province.  He  is  a member  of 

5 The  provincial  schulkollegium,  board  of  education  for  the 

province 

6.  Kultus  ministerium,  state 

(a)  department  of  common  schools 

(b)  vortragenderrate  or  special  advisors  to  the  department, 

and  hiilfsarbeiter,  who  have  charge  of  the  sub- 
divisions. 

Of  the  above,  i,  2 and  3 for  the  city,  4 and  5 for  the  province, 
and  6 for  the  state. 

The  other  schools  are  shown  in  the  following  table : 


Paid  by  Altona 

Paid  by  Prussia 

Endowed 

1 Stadtisch 

j Koniglisch 

Stifts 

2 Gymnasium 

Realgy  mnasi  um 

Oberrealschule 

3 Direktor 

Direktor 

Direktor 

4 Kuratorium  der  hoher- 
lehraustalten 

Citv  board 

1 

Provincial  schulrat  fur  hoher- 
schulen 

Superintendent  in  the  province 

Board  privately 
elected 

5 Provincial  schulrat  fur 
hoherschulen 

Provincial  schulkollegium 

Provincial 

schulrat 

6 Provincial  schulkollegium 

Kultus  minister 

Kultus  minister 

7 Kultus  minister 

Division  for  higher 
schools 

Item  1 gives  the  auspices  under  which  the  school  was  founded  and  is  conducted.  Item 
2 names  the  class  of  school.  Items  3 and  4 give  governing  authorities. 


As  this  topic  is  only  incidental  to  the  general  subject  it  is  not  nec- 
essary to  go  further  into  detail,  as  the  above  gives  a fairly  good 
idea  of  the  multiplicity  of  government. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


89 


IMPORTANT  INDUSTRIAL  LAWS 

There  are  a few  noteworthy  laws  concerning  industry,  industrial 
workers  and  industrial  education  which  have  been  enacted  in  vari- 
ous parts  of  the  German  Empire  and  are  of  interest  in  suggesting 
what  may  be  done  along  the  line  of  governmental  control. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  give  any  large  number  of  these  laws,  as  it  is 
impossible  to  draw  this  information  first-hand,  and  for  those  who 
desire  to  obtain  more  information,  the  consular  reports  cover  the 
field  fully.  The  laws  here  given  are  selected  as  types  of  legislation 
that  are  likely  to  interest  America  in  the  near  future. 

In  all  of  the  German  states,  common  school  attendance  is  com- 
pulsory up  to  fourteen  years  of  age,  excepting  those  over  thirteen 
years  who  have  completed  the  common  school;  and  confirmation 
in  the  church  is  necessary  for  graduation  from  the  common  school. 

In  most  of  the  German  states,  attendance  at  the  continuation  trade 
school  is  compulsory  for  all  children  who  enter  trades  and  for  all 
who  leave  the  common  schools  and  do  not  go  into  at  least  a nine- 
year  course  higher  school  or  its  equivalent  in  private  tutoring.  In 
Prussia,  compulsory  attendance  upon  continuation  schools  is  left  to 
the  cities,  the  province  or  the  smaller  political  . divisions  of  the 
province. 

In  a few  cities,  attendance  upon  continuation  schools  is  optional. 

In  many  cities,  attendance  upon  continuation  schools  is  forced 
by  laws  passed  by  the  unions. 

The  following  laws,  except  no.  1,  which  is  a national  law,  are 
found  in  various  parts  of  the  Empire: 

1 A master  must  allow  his  apprentice  six  hours  a week  with 
pay,  until  he  is  eighteen  years  of  age,  if  he  uses  this  time  to  attend 
a continuation  school. 

2 By  ordinance  of  a district  council  or  a wider  communal  body, 
attendance  at  a continuation  school  may  be  made  compulsory  up  to 
eighteen  years  of  age. 

3 Regulations  may  be  passed  to  secure  attendance  and  define 
the  duties  of  parents  and  employers. 

4 A master  must  send  his  apprentices  to  the  continuation  school 
for  a fixed  number  of  hours  per  week. 

5 A master  must  pay  the  tuition  of  his  apprentices  in  the  con- 
tinuation schools  and  may  deduct  the  same  from  his  wages. 

5 a No  master  shall  hire  and  instruct  an  apprentice  until  he  has 
himself  passed  his  master’s  examination. 

6  Every  employer  must,  within  six  days  after  hiring,  notify  the 
superintendent  of  continuation  schools  regarding  a new  apprentice. 


90 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


7 The  trial  period  of  an  apprentice  shall  not  exceed  three 
months. 

8 Attendance,  curriculums  and  minimum  requirement  shall  be 
set  by  the  state;  the  local  authorities  shall  establish  the  schools. 

9 The  community  shall  furnish  quarters,  heat  and  light.  State 
aid  shall  depend  upon  the  needs  of  the  community. 

10  No  day  school  teacher  shall  teach  more  than  ten  hours  per 
week  in  evening  schools. 

11  Teachers  in  industrial  schools  shall  take  special  instruction 
in  drawing  and  commercial  branches  for  six  weeks  at  the  expense 
of  the  state. 

12  The  principal  of  each  public  school  shall  notify  the  police 
of  every  child  leaving  his  school. 

13  Children  under  thirteen  years  of  age  can  not  be  employed, 
and  not  from  thirteen  to  fourteen  unless  they  have  completed  the 
common  school. 

14  Children  over  fourteen  years  of  age  may  be  employed  but  not 
exceeding  ten  hours  a day,  on  Sunday,  a holiday  nor  during  re- 
ligious observance. 

15  The  midday  pause  shall  be  at  least  one  hour  unless  the  work- 
ing day  is  eight  hours  or  less. 

16  Children  shall  not  be  employed  in  certain  specific  trades 
determined  by  law. 

17  Women  shall  not  be  employed  between  8.30  p.  m.  and  5.30 
a.  m.,  or  after  5.30  p.  m.  on  Saturday  and  the  days  preceding  holi- 
days. 

18  Permission  must  be  obtained  to  start  a factory,  and  special 
permission  in  cases  where  it  might  prove  a public  nuisance. 

19  Factories  shall  be  inspected  by  government  inspectors;  if 
women  are  employed,  women  inspectors  may  be  appointed,  and  the 
factories  must  be  inspected  every  six  months. 

20  The  inspectors  of  the  government  shall  have  the  right  to 
enter  private  homes  if  the  apprentices  are  regularly  employed 
therein. 

21  Every  factory  must  have  and  post  in  a conspicuous  place  a 
set  of  rules  showing  hours  of  work,  intervals  for  meals,  time  and 
manner  of  paying  wages,  conditions  and  length  of  time  in  serving 
notice  for  terminating  employment,  and  punishments. 

22  Wages  must  be  paid  in  currency  and  not  on  Sunday. 

23  It  is  the  duty  of  the  state  to  protect  life,  health  and  morality, 
but  to  do  so  in  a manner  that  does  not  hamper  industrial  enterprise. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


91 


24  Whenever  the  income  of  any  workman  is  less  than  $500  per 
year,  he  must  take  out  state  sick  insurance. 

25  When  the  income  of  any  workman  is  less  than  $750  per  year, 
he  must  take  out  invalid  and  life  insurance. 

26  Attendance  at  the  continuation  school  shall  be  compulsory 
for  two  years  of  at  least  two  hours  per  week,  or  for  four  hours  per 
week  for  the  winter  months. 

27  Every  city  must  contain  at  least  one  continuation  school,  un- 
less excused  by  proper  authority  for  sufficient  reasons.  Boys  must 
attend  two  years ; girls  one  year. 

28  The  annual  subsidy  of  the  government  paid  to  continuation 
schools  shall  be  conditional  upon  compulsory  attendance. 

29  Rural  schools  may  be  under  the  Department  of  Agriculture 
or  the  Department  of  the  Interior. 

It  may  be  said  in  general  that  the  laws  in  Germany  have  been 
made  with  an  equal  desire  to  protect  the  worker,  especially  the 
women  and  children,  and  to  refrain  from  narrow  or  excessive  legis- 
lation that  tends  to  obstruct  the  development  of  national  industries. 
These  laws  are  quite  generally  enforced,  but  there  are  certain  in- 
dustries which  are  permitted  to  relax  from  the  strict  letter  of  the 
law  because  its  enforcement  would  materially  hamper  the  develop- 
ment of  these  lines  of  trade.  It  must  be  said  in  all  justice  that  the 
government  tendency  is  to  favor  development  at  the  expense  of  the 
law  provided  the  conditions  are  reasonably  complied  with  and  no 
strong  opposition  arises.  Such  strict  supervision  as,  for  example, 
is  maintained  in  Switzerland,  is  not  popular  with  the  Germans. 


FUTURE  OF  THE  GERMAN  TRADE  SCHOOLS 
It  would  appear  rather  presumptuous  for  an  American  to  pre- 
dict the  future  of  a system  of  German  schools,  if  it  were  not  that 
certain  tendencies  in  the  development  of  these  schools  are  so  plainly 
to  be  seen.  These  tendencies  may  be  grouped  under  four  headings : 
(1)  relation  to  industry;  (2)  aim  and  ideal;  (3)  compulsory  at- 
tendance ; and  (4)  shops  and  classes. 

1 There  has  long  been  a feeling  in  Germany  that  the  first  law  of 
the  land,  after  provision  against  invasion,  is  to  provide  for  the  de- 
velopment of  its  industries.  Every  civic  and  social  statute  has  been 
weighed  with  regard  to  the  effect  in  fostering  or  hindering  indus- 
trial growth.  During  those  years  when  Germany  was  struggling 
slowly  and  against  great  opposition  toward  a position  of  industrial 
eminence,  many  wholesome  laws  were  modified  or  delayed  in  pass- 


9 2 NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 

ing,  and  many  existing  statutes  were  indifferently  carried  out,  be- 
cause even  the  slight  restrictions  which  they  imposed  would  be  suf- 
ficient to  check  the  progress  of,  or  even  break  up  entirely,  some  line 
of  manufacture  which  could  only  afford  the  cheapest  buildings  and 
machinery,  and  demanded  long  hours  of  labor  to  keep  any  figures 
on  the  credit  side  of  its  balance  sheet.  The  industrial  school,  as 
far  as  its  establishment  and  maintenance  promoted  the  growth  of 
industry,  was  very  popular,  but  whenever  the  laws  relating  to 
schools,  like  those  regarding  child  labor,  ventilation  in  workshops, 
and  safety  devices,  threatened  the  commercial  progress  in  any  way, 
the  school  was  made  to  feel  that  it  must  give  way  to  the  greater 
demand. 

The  time  has  passed  when  German  industries  need  to  be  carefully 
protected.  The  spirit  of  the  people  has  changed  and  is  changing 
in  regard  to  those  laws  that  should  be  enacted  or  should  be  more 
rigidly  enforced.  The  tendency  is  not  only  to  enforce  the  general 
laws  relating  to  labor  but  also  such  specific  laws  as  those  relating 
to  day  classes  in  schools,  shorter  working  hours  on  school  days  for 
those  in  evening  classes,  employment  of  the  young,  and  so  on.  In 
a word,  the  relation  between  the  school  and  the  industry  has 
changed  so  that  it  is  the  industry  now  that  must  suffer  temporarily 
from  the  enforcement  of  laws  which  will  work  through  the  schools 
and  result  in  benefit  to  both. 

2 The  aim  of  the  trade  school  has  always  been  to  produce  effi- 
ciency, to  turn  out  students  capable  of  doing  some  specific  thing 
well.  Until  a few  years  ago  this  was  its  ideal  as  well  as  its  aim,  but 
today  many  German  continuation  and  trade  schools  have  raised  their 
ideal  to  the  development  of  more  broadley  educated  and  more  patri- 
otic citizens,  keeping  the  aim  as  before.  Demands  for  vorschulen 
are  being  made,  such  preparatory  courses  as  are  often  attached  to 
the  higher  types  of  day  schools,  strictly  intellectual  and  even  cultural 
subjects  appear  from  time  to  time  on  the  programs,  and  although 
as  yet  everything  is  related  as  closely  as  possible  to  the  trades,  still 
many  industrial  school  men  are  outspoken  in  their  belief  that  these 
schools  have  a higher  mission  than  the  mere  making  of  mechanics. 
This  subject  has  provoked  general  discussion  and  the  men  who  are 
at  the  head  of  the  larger  systems  of  industrial  schools  are  them- 
selves better  educated  and  broader  minded  than  their  predecessors 
of  a generation  ago,  due  to  an  almost  unconsciously  increasing  de- 
mand for  a higher  type  of  leaders. 

3 Compulsory  attendance  upon  common  schools  up  to  the  four- 
teenth year  of  age,  and  continued  compulsory  attendance  in  trade 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


93 


schools  for  three  or  four  years  additional  throughout  the  German 
Empire,  is  only  a matter  of  time.  Wherever  compulsory  education 
has  been  tried  for  continuation  schools  it  has  succeeded  so  far  that 
no  effort  has  been  made  to  abolish  it.  The  states  that  have  com- 
pulsory education  are  in  the  large  majority  and  are  willing  that  the 
central  government  shall  take  steps  in  the  matter.  In  Prussia, 
where  it  is  a local  option,  attendance  at  nearly  all  of  the  schools  is 
compulsory  and,  for  financial  reasons,  the  state  has  almost  the 
power  to  force  it  upon  the  others.  The  school  men  are  practically 
united  in  their  desire  for  forced  attendance  and  a state  law  to  that 
effect  is  confidently  expected.  The  few  cities  like  Hamburg  which 
have  voluntary  trade  schools  could  not  hold  out  against  the  pressure 
for  a national  law  even  if  they  refused  to  pass  such  a law  for 
themselves,  but  in  fact  the  educators  of  Hamburg  are  anxious  for 
compulsory  attendance,  confidently  expect  it,  and  many  employers 
favor  such  action  by  the  city. 

4 There  are  three  types  of  trade  schools,  namely,  a school  with 
evening  classes  and  no  shops,  or  with  trade-union  shops  affiliated, 
dependent  upon  an  apprenticeship  system;  a school  of  evening 
classes  and  day  classes  for  those  who  can  not  do  good  work  at 
night,  and  with  shops  for  supplementing  the  work  of  apprentices 
in  regular  shops,  such  as  those  doing  piecework;  a school  with 
all  day  classes,  fully  equipped  shops  to  turn  out  journeymen  and 
not  depend  upon  an  apprenticeship  system.  Of  these  three  types, 
the  second  is  the  popular  German  trade  school  of  the  future.  The 
simple  continuation  school  running  at  night  in  public  school  build- 
ings has  served  the  country  well  and  allowed  the  growth  to  extend 
into  small  communities  where  the  cost  prohibited  further  equip- 
ment. The  demand  today,  however,  is  turning  very  decidedly 
toward  better  schools.  Teachers  are  requesting  day  classes  in  cer- 
tain subjects  and  trades  and  these  classes  are  being  added.  One 
shop  after  another  is  appearing  in  the  school,  especially  in  the 
artistic  trades,  and  more  and  more  supplementary  shopwork  is 
being  added.  On  the  other  hand,  the  evening  classes  are  not  being 
abandoned  except  by  a few  indoor  apprentices  who  can  not  work 
at  night.  The  German  is  loyal  to  his  apprenticeship  system,  and 
while  willing  to  grant  certain  daytime  classes,  he  has  no  intention 
of  allowing  the  work  to  become  all  day  work  or  of  withdrawing 
the  apprentice  from  the  field  of  active  labor  until  he  is  declared  a 
journeyman.  He  is  growing  to  see  the  wisdom  of  supplementary 
workshop  instruction  in  school,  but  refuses  to  believe  that  it  is  best 
for  an  apprentice  to  learn  the  fundamentals  of  his  trade  in  any  but 


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NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


a regular  commercial  shop.  He  will  not  adopt  the  third  type  of 
school,  found  largely  in  France,  as  a national  industrial  school 
for  Germany. 

It  appears  therefore  that  the  future  German  trade  school  will 
be  one  having  many  evening  and  some  day  classes,  supplementary 
shops,  an  apprenticeship  system;  that  it  will  have  a practical  aim. 
and  a somewhat  more  cultural  ideal;  that  its  attendance  will  be 
compulsory,  and  this  and  all  the  other  laws  of  education  and  child 
labor  will  be  more  rigidly  enforced  for  the  good  of  the  worker  and 
the  school. 

ADAPTING  TRADE  SCHOOLS  TO  AMERICA 

The  same  differences  in  racial  characteristics  that  make  it  diffi- 
cult for  one  country  to  successfully  transplant  the  school  system 
of  another,  make  it  similarly  difficult  for  the  citizen  of  one  nation 
to  judge  of  the  suitableness  or  unsuitableness  of  various  foreign 
educational  phases  and  to  forecast  correctly  which  can  and  which 
can  not  be  successfully  adopted  in  his  own  country.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, too  much  to  expect  that  certain  distinctive  features  will  stand 
out  above  the  others  as  desirable,  while  others  appear  totally  unfit 
for  the  conditions  incident  upon  such  adoption.  This  is  true  in 
Germany,  and  only  these  very  evident  features  are  considered  in 
this  conclusion  of  the  report. 

The  more  definite  and  practical  difficulties  may  be  first  con- 
sidered. As  has  been  said  before,  all  the  trade  schools  of  Germany 
may  be  classified  in  three  groups.  First,  those  without  shops,, 
holding  practically  all  of  their  classes  at  night,  with  the  avowed 
intention  of  offering  only  the  classwork  necessary  to  supplement 
the  shopwork  which  student  apprentices  are  receiving  daily  at  their 
regular  trade;  second,  a continuation  of  the  above  with  supple- 
mentary shopwork  given  in  the  school  shops  by  teachers  who  are- 
practical  workers  and  members  of  the  union  and  whose  business  is- 
to  offer  that  part  of  the  practical  work  that  a student  can  not  get  in* 
his  ordinary  labor ; third,  a school  providing  all  the  theory  and  all 
the  shopwork  within  itself  and  graduating  trained  journeymen. 

The  question  is,  Do  we  need  all  three  systems  and  can  we  estab- 
lish them  efficiently? 

The  first  class  of  schools  is  naturally  the  easiest  and  the  least 
expensive  to  establish;  it  does  not  require  shops  or  additional 
buildings  and  it  could  meet  with  no  opposition  from  the  labor 
unions.  Its  night  classes  would  be  of  incalculable  value  to  certain 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


95 


classes  of  pupils,  and,  especially  at  first,  to  a vast  army  of  young 
workers  who  have  recently  left  the  public  schools.  As  a national 
industrial  system,  however,  it  is  inalienably  connected  with  a na- 
tional apprenticeship  system,  an  apprenticeship  whose  time  and 
scope  shall  be  of  governmental  concern ; such  a system  we  have 
not  and  are  not  likely  to' have.  Without  a uniform  apprenticeship 
system  as  a base  this  first  type  of  school  would  grow  in  and  benefit 
certain  localities,  dependent  upon  the  industries  and  farsightedness 
of  the  employers ; but  its  growth  would  be  ever  sporadic. 

Much  of  the  same  reasoning  applies  to  the  second  group.  This 
type  of  school  depends  also  upon  a permanent  apprenticeship  system 
for  its  stability,  although  it  is  less  dependent  upon  a governmental 
system  than  is  the  first  class,  because  good  shops  of  themselves 
would  attract  pupils,  give  practicability  to  the  work,  call  for  jour- 
neymen instructors  and  enable  the  school  to  adapt  itself  more 
readily  to  the  needs  of  pupils  coming  from  inefficient  and  inade- 
quate shops  and  from  incompetent  or  indifferent  masters.  The  best 
school  shops  of  Europe,  however,  are  either  directly  or  indirectly 
under  the  unions.  They  are  either  established  and  conducted  en- 
tirely by  the  masters  or  are  under  a committee,  appointed  by  the 
union,  which  is  consulted  upon  every  point,  reviews  the  courses  of 
study,  visits  the  classes  and  aids  in  the  direction  of  even  municipal 
schools.  Experience  has  shown  that  only  by  some  such  coopera- 
tion from  practical  men  can  the  highest  ideal  of  industrial  instruc- 
tion be  developed,  and  the  more  correlation  there  is  between  the 
shopwork  outside  and  that  in  the  school,  the  greater  the  need  of 
■such  cooperation  and  the  more  skill  and  time  are  required  to 
.articulate  the  whole  properly.  This  system  is  therefore  more  or 
less  dependent  upon  a union  or  upon  an  association  of  masters  or 
employers.  The  difficulties  confronting  this  are  evident. 

Unions  of  workmen  have  always  arisen  as  a protection  against 
some  form  of  danger.  In  Germany  the  primary  danger  was  the 
encroachment  of  inefficient  and  incompetent  men  upon  the  regular 
trades.  The  object  was  to  insure  efficiency  in  the  masters,  to  set  an 
examination  and  to  restrict  the  instruction  of  apprentices  to  quali- 
fied masters.  This  very  object  brought  about  a union  of  masters, 
•eligibility  depending  upon  skill,  irrespective  of  whether  the  mem- 
bers were  employers  or  employees,  and  such  a union  is  bound  for 
its  own  advancement  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the  instruction  of 
its  apprentices.  The  issue  in  America  was  labor  against  capital ; 
the  union  started  for  protection  of  worker;  eligibility  meant  only 


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NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


that  one  must  be  an  employee;  master  and  journeymen  stood  to- 
gether as  employees  and  apart  if  one  employed  the  other.  There 
was  no  necessity  for  the  protection  of  skill ; the  number  of  em- 
ployers who  were  themselves  skilled  workmen  grew  ever  less  and 
less ; today  they  are  separated  as  the  man  who  hires  and  he  who  is 
hired.  A union  of  masters  does  not  mean  a union  of  employers ; 
an  association  of  employers  does  not  necessarily  mean  a union  of 
skilled  workers ; a labor  union  means  all  who  work  for  others. 

Such  a union  of  masters  as  is  found  in  Germany  does  not  exist 
here.  The  leaders  of  our  labor  unions  are'  intelligent,  farsighted 
men  not  opposed  to  industrial  education,  but  the  very  exigencies 
of  their  office  prevent  them  from  taking  the  aggressive,  personal 
interest  in  education  that  the  German  feels  obliged  to  assume.  It 
is  entirely  possible  to  have  a committee  of  practical  men  connected 
with  each  trade  school,  but  such  a committee  could  not  be  all  em- 
ployers or  the  unions  would  naturally  object;  it  could  not  be  all 
master  mechanics  or  a great  class  of  employers  would  be  unrepre- 
sented ; so  it  must  be  both  masters  and  employers,  which  means 
that  its  influence  must  be  necessarily  local  and  that  its  various 
branches  could  not  be  united  into  a union  of  sufficient  proportions  to 
form  the  stable  groundwork  of  a national  system  of  education. 

The  third  class  of  schools  would  most  assuredly  need  such  a 
local  committee  and  it  would  be  well  for  these  schools  if  they 
could  have  a committee  affilitated  with  a union  as  in  Germany;  but 
they  can  get  along  without  such  a Committee  better  than  either 
of  the  other  classes.  The  fact  that  their  apprentices  are  not  con- 
nected with  outside  shops  removes  the  necessity  for  this  articula- 
tion; the  fact  that  they  would  come  into  such  a school  at  an  early 
age  — thirteen  or  fourteen  — and  remain  as  public  school  pupils, 
removes  some  of  the  necessary  affiliation  with  the  labor  unions ; 
and  since  each  school  gives  its  own  complete  apprenticeship  there 
is  no  necessity  for  a national  apprenticeship  system.  The  local 
committees  could  work  independently  if  necessary,  although  meet- 
ings and  associations  throughout  the  state  would  largely  increase 
their  efficiency.  There  are,  however,  at  least  three  points  of  diffi- 
culty in  this  last  type  of  school  to  which  the  other  two  are  not  sub- 
jected. It  is  the  most  costly  of  them  all,  shops  and  laboratories 
multiplying  the  expense  very  rapidly  and  teachers  qualified  for 
this  work  being  scarce  and  expensive.  It  would  require  a re- 
modeling of  our  public  school  system  so  as  to  advance  the  pupils 
into  the  trade  school  from  a grade  lower  than  the  eighth,  a change 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


97 


advocated  today  by  many  educators  for  conserving  time,  and  one 
that  would  produce  a saving  in  expense  which  would  partly  offset 
the  increase  for  trade  schools.  If  the  pupil  enters  from  the  sixth 
grade  and  pursues  a four-year  course  as  a minimum  and  a six-year 
course  as  a maximum,  it  means  the  withdrawal  of  apprentices  from 
the  field  of  labor  for  at  least  two  years  after  they  are  qualified,  to  a 
certain  extent,  to  be  actual  producers. 

The  first  of  these  is  to  be  met  by  a slow  and  healthy  growth, 
demands  for  one  equipment  at  a time,  and  a disposition  to  allow  the 
value  of  each  step  to  manifest  itself  to  the  community  before  addi- 
tional funds  are  called  for. 

It  has  already  been  pointed  out  that  none  but  the  largest  and 
wealthiest  communities  should  start  with  handsome  buildings  and 
expensive  equipment.  American  models  from  which ‘to  draw  are 
very  few ; whatever  we  have  already  adopted  is  in  the  nascent  stage  ; 
practical  results  are  determined  as  yet  by  local  perspective  only, 
and  the  most  promising  programs  are  undergoing  continual  change. 
Homemade  models,  basement  laboratories,  and  secondhand  build- 
ings have  marked  the  beginnings  of  most  of  the  celebrated  European 
trade  schools  and  it  is  this  spirit  that  will  work  most  successfully 
in  our  country  in  producing  a public  sentiment  that  will  provide  the 
necessary  money. 

The  second  objection  requires  rather  the  overcoming  of  inertia 
in  the  public  mind  than  the  surmounting,  of  material  obstacles.  Our 
school  system  now  naturally  divides  itself  after  the  eighth  grade. 
This  branching  of  the  ways  must  be  made  to  occur  after  the  sixth 
or  seventh  grade  so  that  the  pupil  going  to  the  trade  school  may 
begin  his  practical  education  before  he  has  finished  the  common 
branches  so  necessary  to  the  same,  and  before  he  has  joined  the 
80  per  cent  that  give  up  school  entirely  in  their  search  for  more 
concrete  instruction. 

The  third  difficulty  presents  two  phases,  the  personal  and  the 
economic.  The  student  in  the  apprenticeship  school  is  nearly,  or 
entirely,  self-supporting  during  his  period  of  education,  whereas  the 
student  in  the  third  type  of  school  is  earning  nothing.  This  is  the 
strongest  argument  for  the  establishment  of  some  schools  of  the 
first  and  second  class  no  matter  into  what  the  general  trade  school 
may  develop.  Moreover,  it  should  be  possible  for  advanced  stu- 
dents in  a trade  school  to  sell  their  work  and  retain  the  difference 
between  the  cost  of  material  and  the  selling  price.  Any  objection 
to  this  from  outside  producers  could  be  met  with  the  statement 


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NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


that  the  skilled  instructors  working  in  the  school  and  not  produc- 
ing could  and  would  produce  nearly  as  much  as  the  pupils  if  the 
school  were  not  occupying  their  time,  especially  as  the  output  of 
such  schools  will  generally  be  too  small  to  be  of  economic  import- 
ance to  the  country  as  a whole.  Students  working  intensely  in  a 
trade  school  should  master  their  trade  in  less  time  than  under  the 
part-time  system  and  coming  earlier  into  the  journeymen’s  field 
will  make  up  in  advanced  wages  for  some  or  all  of  the  loss  during 
the  school  years. 

As  to  the  general  economic  effect,  the  sudden  and  universal  in- 
troduction of  these  schools  would  bring  a stringency  in  unskilled 
and  apprentice  labor  and  a consequent  rise  in  wages.  Even  this 
would  readjust  itself  in  a few  years  with  the  influx  of  well-trained 
apprentices  into  the  trades  in  place  of  the  untrained  material  of 
today,  a resulting  increase  in  production  and  falling  in  price,  pro- 
vided other  conditions  remain  the  same.  But  the  introduction  of 
these  schools  will  be  neither  sudden  nor  universal  and  it  is  doubt- 
ful if  they  will  multiply  rapidly  enough  to  effect  the  supply  of 
laborers. 

It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  this  third  system  of  schools  might 
be  adapted  to  American  needs,  especially  as  it  is  the  avowed  aim 
of  our  free  education  to  keep  the  child  in  school  and  out  of  daily 
labor  until  he  has  reached  the  completion  of  the  education  he 
started  out  to  obtain. 

This  leads  us  naturally  to  the  larger  differences  and  larger  diffi- 
culties. The  main  object  of  the  German  trade  school  is  to  turn 
out  a finished  mechanic;  the  secondary  object  is  to  produce  a soldier 
and  at  the  same  time  a desirable  citizen  of  a limited  monarchy  based 
upon  military  traditions  and  supremacy.  The  primary  object  of 
the  American  trade  school  should  be  to  retain  and  educate  into 
efficient  and  desirable  citizens  of  a republic  the  80  per  cent  of  chil- 
dren now  leaving  before  the  close  of  their  grammar  school  years. 
A very  clear,  certain  and  practical,  but  secondary,  object  is  to 
produce  skilled  mechanics.  The  German  apprentice  is  made  to  feel 
that  he  is  no  longer  in  school  but  in  real  life  and  trade;  he  is  not 
being  educated  but  trained.  The  American  student  should  feel 
that  skillful  training  is  education,  that  real  life  and  trade  should 
permeate  the  school,  that  he  is  not  only  in  school  being  educated  as 
surely  and  as  freely  as  his  playmates  in  the  classical  school,  but 
that  his  education  is  just  as  honorable,  just  as  serious  a matter  of 
consideration  and  just  as  efficient  a road  to  respect  as  any  other 
education. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


99 


Although  the  common  schools  of  Germany  include  religion  in 
their  regular  course  of  study  and  many  of  the  volkschulen  and 
mittelschulen  devote  special  attention  to  moral  and  cultural  growth, 
the  trade  schools  generally  ignore  these  subjects  entirely.  Every 
subject  is  focused  upon  the  daily  needs  of  the  trade  and  the  stu- 
dent is  impressed  with  the  fact  that  the  church  and  the  day  school 
are  expected  to  have  completed  these  branches  except  as  they  relate 
to  personal  honesty  and  the  duties  of  citizenship. 

It  is  the  first  duty  of  every  American  school,  however,  to  turn 
out  well-rounded  and  not  one-sided  young  men  and  women,  and 
well-rounded  young  men  and  women  are  not  produced  by  giving 
them  a few  years  in  the  Sunday  school,  a few  years  in  the  classical 
school  and  then  a few  years  in  the  specific  trade  school,  leaving  each 
successive  influence  to  join  the  natural  forgetfulness  of  youth  in 
obliterating  whatever  has  gone  before.  The  childs’  period  of  recep- 
tivity to  moral  and  cultural  subjects  usually  precedes  his  interest  in 
manual  instruction  by  several  years,  but  it  extends  far  into,  if  not 
entirely  through,  his  industrial  school  days,  and  any  trade  school 
that  deliberately  omits  this  side  of  its  program  and  neglects  to  keep 
alive  at  least  whatever  ethical  and  cultural  instincts  its  pupils  bring 
with  them,  has  a very  narrow  ideal. 

As  a general  rule,  skill  is  a more  important  asset  in  Germany 
than  education  and  initiative,  and  the  trade  schools  are  influenced 
accordingly.  The  German  boy  lives  in  an  atmosphere  where  orders 
come  from  above  and  the  surest  way  to  success  is  to  possess  the 
skill  to  carry  them  out  without  possessing  a desire  to  criticize  or 
improve  upon  the  methods  by  which  this  is  accomplished.  The 
political  and  economic  philosophy  of  the  country  tends  to  create  a 
citizenship  of  painstaking  executors  of  directions  and  to  stifle  in- 
itiative and  inventive  genius  in  the  laboring  man. 

To  the  American  boy  education,  initiative  and  self-reliance  means 
everything,  and  whereas  the  introduction  into  our  industries  of  a 
more  highly  skilled,  more  exactly  obedient  and  less  critical  body  of 
workers  would  be  a very  desirable  thing,  the  American  trade  school 
must  accomplish  it  by  seeking  out  and  avoiding  those  characteris- 
tics of  foreign  schools  that  would  stifle  the  independence  and  am- 
bition of  the  American  boy. 

Temperament  must  also  enter  into  our  consideration.  Although 
extremely  excitable  on  occasion,  the  German  is  usually  slower,  more 
phlegmatic  and  more  persevering  than  the  American.  He  is  willing 
to  work  more  entirely  from  method  and  less  from  reason  and  with 


IOO 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


a narrower,  though  often  more  definite,  outlook  than  would  answer 
for  his  country. 

This  national  principle  of  exalting  the  value  of  skill  coupled  with 
the  national  trait  of  patient  endeavor,  has  made  the  modern  system 
of  German  economic  philosophy  possible  and  successful.  Germany 
has  risen  to  its  present  preeminence  in  world  trade  by  educating 
its  people  in  well  defined  economic  strata,  the  highest  aim  being  to 
make  each  worker  a master  within  his  own  stratums  and  thus  to 
elevate  the  efficiency  of  each  layer  by  itself.  This  has  produced  the 
acme  of  skill  and  has  graded  the  army  of  workmen  much  as  Ger- 
many grades  her  army  of  soldiers,  but  it  has  too  many  points  in 
common  with  the  caste  system  of  India  to  make  it  popular  or  ef- 
fective in  the  United  States. 

America,  on  the  other  hand,  has  achieved  success  by  the  power 
of  its  youth  to  break  through  stratum  after  stratum  until  the  plow- 
boy  becomes  a general  or  the  canal  driver  a president.  Two  of  the 
evils,  at  least,  arising  from  this  are  that  the  canal  driver  in  his  hurry 
to  become  president  forgets  the  necessity  of  learning  to  be  a first- 
class  canal  driver,  and  in  his  haste  to  break  through  the  layers,  has 
neither  the  time  nor  the  desire  to  master  any  one  thing ; or  else  he 
fixes  his  attention  so  closely  upon  the  requirements  for  president 
and  develops  such  a devotion  for  them  that  he  fails  to  note  the 
dignity  of  honest  canal  driving  and  soon  holds  manual  labor  as  un- 
desirable, if  not  in  actual  contempt. 

If,  without  killing  the  ambition  to  become  president  of  some 
honest  and  honorable  organization,  political  or  economic,  we  can  in- 
ject into  our  education  that  part  of  the  German  training  that 
arouses  a desire  to  acquire  skill  and  mastery  over  the  business  im- 
mediately at  hand  and  a patience  and  willingness  to  work  and 
strive  for  success,  we  shall  indeed  have  achieved  what  no  other 
country  has  yet  fully  accomplished. 

It  grows  ever  more  clear  that  the  American  school  must  be  dis- 
tinctly a school  for  America.  It  must  adopt  from  Europe  the  senti- 
ment of  national  organization  and  national  recognition;  it  must 
adopt  also  practical  methods,  close  relationship  between  work  and 
school,  cultivation  of  perseverance  and  skill,  and  a willingness  to 
work  with  the  hands ; it  must  add  to  these  a broader  education  and 
initiative,  an  ideal  as  well  as  a practical  aim,  a spirit  of  tolerance 
and  respect  for  labor,  and  keep  alive  the  ethical  and  the  cultural  as 
far  as  it  is  possible  to  do  so. 

It  must  de  divorced  from  direct  dependence  upon  an  apprentice- 
ship system  or  a trade-union.  It  must  teach  certain  basic  princi- 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


IOI 


pies  and  at  the  same  time  be  elastic  enough  to  admit  of  special 
features  wherever  a community  needs  them.  And,  lastly,  it  must 
foster  the  spirit  of  American  freedom  of  declaring  the  democracy 
of  politics,  economics  and  education.  No  pattern  exclusively  of 
our  own  making  will  fit  these  conditions;  no  pattern  from  Europe 
can  be  imported  entire  and  so  cut  as  to  fit  our  ideal.  We  may 
borrow  our  metal  from  Germany  and  smelt  it  in  the  forges  of 
France,  but  it  must  be  cast  in  an  American  mold. 


102 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


APPENDIX 

DIRECTOR  TRENKNER’S  LECTURE 

The  question  of  the  need  of  industrial  schools  is  a subject  no 
longer  under  discussion,  as  it  is  conceded  by  those  who  know  any- 
thing of  present  day  conditions. 

The  Altona  school  was  founded  in  1801  as  a Sunday  school  and 
has  stood  a practical  test.  Its  development  may  be  divided  into 
three  different  steps  or  periods : ( i ) beginning  without  any  demand 
by  law,  its  establishment  was  due  to  the  efforts  of  a few  farseeing, 
energetic,  practical  men.  This  period  lasted  until  the  establishment 
in  1869  of  the  German  ordinance  for  industrial  schools  under  the 
control  of  labor  unions  and  other  trade  bodies  or  under  associations 
established  for  the  express  purpose  of  looking  after  such  instruc- 
tion. (2)  The  second  period  extended  to  1890.  During  this  time 
the  community  began  to  interest  itself  in  the  school.  (3)  The  first 
great  advancement  came  when,  at  the  close  of  the  last  century,  the 
city  and  community  together  took  up  the  question  of  caring  for  the 
youth  after  the  regular  school  age.  In  this  period  came  the  erec- 
tion and  establishment  of  the  teaching  institutions  which  remain 
today. 

The  continuation  school,  therefore,  is  a product  of  historical  de- 
velopment from  actual  need  and  not  an  accidental  or  arbitrary  crea- 
tion of  later  times ; it  has  a full  right  to  existence  and  a place  in  the 
history  of  culture.  That  it  has  stood  the  test  of  time  and  adapted 
itself  to  changes  and  needs  and  growth,  proves  that  it  was  the 
product  of  a real  need. 

The  continuation  schools  in  Prussia  are  under  the  Ministry  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  and  their  common  aim,  as  laid  down  by  that 
body,  is  a twofold  one : first,  the  elevation  of  the  moral  strength  of 
the  student,  and,  second,  the  furthering  of  his  trade  ability.  The 
continuation  and  common  schools  have,  to  a great  extent,  the  same 
moral  aim  and  methods,  but  in  the  furthering  of  the  trade  ability  of 
the  student,  are  quite  different  both  as  to  aim  and  method. 

A student  in  a continuation  school  differs  in  intellect,  feeling  and 
will  from  a common  school  student.  His  whole  personality  is  ruled 
by  his  calling,  whether  he  is  to  be  a skilled  or  a common  laborer. 
The  new  ideas  which  he  has  gotten  from  his  calling  are  fresh 
and  strong  and  overrule  all  former  ones.  The  center  of  intel- 
lectual life  is  changed  from  that  of  a child  and  his  highest  interest 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG.  AND  ALTONA  I03 

is  in  his  calling  because  it  is  of  his  own  choosing.  It  is  his  life  s 
work,  his  main  idea,  and  gathers  to  itself  all  of  his  thoughts  and 
attention ; and  the  work  of  the  school  would  produce  poor  results 
if  this  idea  were  not  always  first  in  the  teacher  s mind,  that  is, 
used  in  examples  and  lessons.  All  instruction  must  be  related  to 
the  calling  in  question  but  there  must  be  new  adaptation  of  subject 
matter  and  new  methods  to  keep  up  interest.  The  subjects  and 
plans  of  the  common  school  must  not  be  repeated. 

The  continuation  school  must  be  a one-trade  school,  or  a school 
for  special  meetings,  as  far  as  it  can,  or  it  loses  its  right  to  exist- 
ence. On  account  of  the  limited  number  of  hours  it  can  not  con- 
cern itself  with  a general  education  but  must  be  confined  to  thor- 
oughness within  narrower  limits.  It  must  be  a one-trade  school, 
as  far  as  possible,  without  losing  its  main  object;  must  be  organ- 
ized and  carried  on  according  to  the  ground  principles  of  the 
various  trades.  This  is  more  difficult  for  the  general  continuation 
schools  than  for  the  commercial  continuation  schools  whose  students 
all  have  one  general  object.  The  general  school  must  have  a large 
number  of  divisions  and  a large  number  of  different  teaching  plans 
to  accommodate  all  of  its  students. 

There  are  three  divisions  in  the  Altona  continuation  school,  viz : 
(1)  the  general  continuation  school  for  all  boys  who  are  not  learn- 
ing any  special  trade;  (2)  the  elementary  division  of  six  classes  for 
less  capable  and  undeveloped  students;  (3)  the  one-trade  continua- 
tion school  for  apprentices. 

The  general  continuation  school  and  the  division  for  unskilled 
workers,  common  laborers,  messenger  boys,  and  others  has  thirty 
classes  and  about  one  thousand  students  and  is  housed  in  three 
of  the  common  school  buildings.  Each  class  has  four  hours  weekly 
in  the  morning,  or  afternoon,  or  from  seven  to  nine  in  the  evening, 
according  to  the  wishes  of  the  employers.  As  far  as  possible  the 
work  here  relates  to  the  business  of  the  student,  for  example,  there 
is  a three-class  division  for  messenger  boys ; the  same  for  the  milk 
boys ; a six-class  division  for  workers  in  large  factories ; a class 
for  hotel  boys,  and  several  others. 

To  illustrate  that  even  in  classes  for  unskilled  laborers  the  in- 
struction is  based  upon  the  practical  need  of  the  student,  the  follow- 
ing teaching  plan  for  messenger  boys  is  given.  They  are  taught 
all  traffic  conditions  of  the  home  city : post,  railroad,  telegraph  and 
telephone  methods,  street  and  street  car  ordinances,  and  plans  of 
direction.  They  practise  the  filling  out  of  all  kinds  of  traffic 


104 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


formulas  and  the  writing  of  bills  and  receipts.  They  are  instructed  | 
in  banking  and  money  methods,  in  accurate  addition  of  columns  of  j 
figures  and  paying  out  of  money,  and  in  home  geography  so  that  J 
they  can  give  information  and  direction  to  strangers. 

In  the  elementary  division  the  least  attention  is  paid  to  the  call-  j 
ing  of  the  student  and  the  teaching  plan  is  patterned  after  that  of  j. 
the  common  school.  This  is  because  the  students  have  not  yet 
completed  the  work  of  that  school  and  therefore  reading,  writing 
and  arithmetic  must  be  taken  up  by  simple  methods. 

In  the  apprentices’  division  the  highest  degree  of  attention  is  paid 
to  the  calling  and  to  this  end,  as  far  as  possible,  they  are  divided 
into  classes  for  special  callings  or  trades.  Besides  the  fifty-six 
classes  in  drawing,  there  are  seventy  one-trade  classes  — three  for 
bakers,  three  for  barbers,  six  for  masons,  five  for  tinkers,  three  for  ; 
painters,  eleven  for  machine  builders,  eight  for  locksmiths,  two  ; 
for  typesetters,  two  for  upholsterers  and  paperhangers,  five  for 
cabinetmakers,  two  each  for  tobacco  apprentices,  butchers,  electrical 
workers  and  skilled  mechanics,  one  each  for  tailors,  furriers,  drug- 
gists, waiters,  confectioners,  and  coppersmiths.  In  some  trades, 
as  glazier,  potter,  and  shoemaker,  there  are  trade  group  classes,  put- 
ting together  trades  in  which  the  instruction  is  similar  because  there 
are  not  enough  students  in  each  trade  for  separate  classes;  but 
each  of  these  boys  has  drawing  for  his  own  peculiar  trade. 

The  school  has  also'  two  full  classes  for  commercial  apprentices 
who  ought  to  go  to  the  commercial  continuation  school,  and  who 
are  urged  to  do  so  by  director  and  teachers,  but  because  of  parents, 
or  some  other  reason,  do  not.  They  can  not  be  compelled  to,  for 
the  commercial  continuation  school  is  not  obligatory;  therefore,  if 
they  will  not  seek  a better  opportunity,  the  continuation  school  must 
provide  for  them. 

Besides  the  regular  teaching  plans  there  are  thirty  different 
syllabuses  for  the  different  divisions  of  trades.  These  plans  can  only 
be  made  out  with  the  help  of  men  from  the  practical  workshops, 
especially  the  master  handworkers  who  have  also  helped  with  prac- 
tical advice  in  the  preparation  of  trade  textbooks.  Even  though 
the  teaching  plan  has  been  approved  by  the  Ministry,  still  the  school 
holds  itself  ready  to  make  any  needed  improvements  so  that  the 
work  shall  meet  more  and  more  the  practical  needs.  To  this  end 
for  each  trade  division  there  is  a trade  school  committee  of  five 
men  from  that  particular  trade  or  calling.  This  committee  visits 
the  school,  hears  the  work  and  afterwards  offers  suggestions  and 
valuable  advice  to  the  director  and  teachers. 


INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA  105 

To  advance  the  ability  of  the  student  in  his  practical  work  the 
instructors  seek  to  ground  him  in  all  the  principles  relating  to  the 
knowledge  of  raw  material,  tools  and  implements.  Arithmetic, 
drawing  and  writing  are  taught  from  the  most  practical  standpoint. 
Even  more  important  than  all  these  is  the  practical  work  of  the 
student  himself,  for  he  would  not  be  employed,  no  matter  how 
much  theoretical  teaching  he  had  had,  if  he  could  not  work  well  at 
his  own  trade.  For  this  purpose  the  actual  workshop  comes  into 
the  line  of  teaching,  for  only  in  such  a shop  can  the  practical  work 
be  well  done.  ‘ Only  in  the  actual  work  of  the  trade  will  occur  all 
the  incidentals  and  possibilities  of  everyday  use.  The  school  work- 
shop can  not  therefore  take  the  place  of  the  regular  shop  but  can 
only  be  used  as  a side  issue  or  as  a means  of  broadening  the  teach- 
ing of  the  regular  shop.  Only  such  things  should  be  taught  in  the 
school  workshop  as  the  boy  can  not  learn  in  the  regular  shop  and 
yet  are  necessary  to  make  him  a practical,  all-around  master  of  his 
trade.  The  continuation  school  does  this  work  in  a small  measure 
with  painters,  confectioners,  masons,  carpenters,  waiters,  uphol- 
sterers and  paperhangers.  Many  students  of  other  trades  work  out 
practically  in  the  shop  those  things  which  they  have  drawn  in  the 
school.  This  work  is  often  added  to  the  collection  of  school 
models.  The  school  employs,  as  far  as  possible,  practical  men  for 
the  oversight  of  practical  work. 

The  school  hours  must  be  arranged  to  suit  the  trade  and  when 
possible  must  be  chosen  by  the  majority  in  each  trade  to  fit  its  con- 
venience. This  is  necessary  in  order  not  to  take  the  boy  away  from 
the  workshop  when  he  is  most  needed  and  can  learn  the  most.  The 
master  teaches  the  boy  not  alone  for  the  love  of  the  trade  and  the 
desire  to  assist  but  to  earn  a living;  therefore,  when  he  wants  the 
boy  he  must  have  him  or  he  will  not  endure  the  trouble  of  having 
an  apprentice.  School  is  in  session  from  7 a.  m.  to  9 p.  m.  Er- 
rand boys  have  little  to  do  in  the  morning  so  their  school  time  is 
from  7 to  9 a.  m.,  and  they  are  free  afternoons  and  evenings  when 
most  needed.  Bakers  and  milk  boys  work  in  the  morning  and 
attend  school  in  the  afternoon.  Barbers,  druggists,  confectioners, 
waiters,  call  boys,  and  butchers  can  only  be  excused  on  certain  days 
of  the  week  at  certain  times  of  the  day.  Masons,  carpenters  and 
painters  have  seasons  of  work  and  go  to  school  only  certain  seasons 
of  the  year,  but  more  hours  per  day.  It  is  difficult  for  the  school 
management  to  arrange  such  a plan  of  hours  because  they  lack 
teachers  who  make  this  their  chief  business. 


io6 


NEW  YORK  STATE  EDUCATION  DEPARTMENT 


The  school  allows  the  apprentice  to  go  where  he  is  able  to  get 
the  best  education.  Commercial  apprentices  go  to  the  business 
school.  Many  from  the  machine  factories  take  the  second  part  of 
the  engineering  school  ten  hours  per  week.  Most  apprentices  be- 
long in  a one-trade  division  of  the  elementary  grade  in  the  con- 
tinuation school.  Only  when  they  have  completed  this  should  they 
pass  on  into  the  mechanical  or  industrial  art  schools. 

When  a boy  shows  special  talent  in  mechanics  or  art  he  should 
be  freed  as  early  as  possible  from  the  continuation  school  so  that 
he  may  be  able  to  go  to  the  industrial  art  school  where  he  can  get 
better  work.  In  all  Germany  it  is  agreed  that  the  continuation 
school  is  the  only  genuine  beginning  trade  school  for  all  appren- 
tices and  it  should  prepare  them  to  pass  on  into  the  higher  schools. 


INDEX 


Acknowledgments,  6. 

Altoona,  trade-unions,  74-75. 

Altona  schools,  historical  sketch,  7-8; 
supervision  and  government,  8-10; 
division  of  trade  schools,  10-n; 
buildings,  11-13;  laboratories  and 
workshops,  13-17;  trades  repre-  | 
sented,  19;  hours  and  program, 
20-21 ; course  for  carpenters,  23 ; 
school  for  building  trades,  teachers, 
51 ; elementary  schools,  description, 
57  J classes  for  women,  60 ; blanks, 
records  and  reports,  60-61 ; educa- 
tional finances,  65-66;  text  books, 
67-68 ; compulsory  attendance,  71 ; 
attendance  of  pupils,  72;  girls  pub- 
lic schools  in  domestic  arts,  76; 
city  council’s  attitude  toward,  81 ; 
Director  Trenkner’s  lecture,  102-6. 

Apparatus,  17-18. 

Apprentices,  attitude  of,  79-81. 

Artistic  painters,  courses  for,  39-44. 

Artistic  trades,  workshops  for,  14. 

Attendance,  70-73. 

Barbers  school,  16. 

Blankenese,  continuation  school,  79. 

Blanks,  60-61. 

Bremen,  compulsory  attendance,  71. 

Bricklayers,  workshops  for,  14. 

Builders,  workshops  for,  15. 

Building  carpenters,  course  for,  39. 

Building  trades,  trade  drawing  for, 
course  in,  23-27. 

Buildings,  11-13. 

Butchers,  classes  for,  70. 

Carpenters,  workshops  for,  15. 

Carpenters  and  joiners,  course  for, 
27-39. 

Church  workshops,  13. 


Commercial  teachers,  training,  56. 

Common  schools,  description,  56; 
government,  88. 

Compulsory  attendance  in  German 
empire,  60,  71. 

Continuation  schools,  historical 
sketch,  7-8;  union  of,  with  trade 
union  schools,  7 ; supervision  and 
government,  8-10 ; trades  repre- 
sented, 19;  school  hours  and  pro- 
gram, 20-21 ; courses  of  study,  23- 
49;  teachers,  51;  pupils,  56;  classes 
for  wiomen,  60;  school  for  girls, 
75-77;  in  small  places,  78-79; 
starting  a new  system,  81-84;  Di- 
rector Trenkner’s  lecture,  102-6. 

Courses  of  study,  general,  18-19; 
typical  courses,  23-49. 

Decorative  painters,  courses  for,  39- 
44- 

Domestic  arts,  courses  in,  76-77. 

Drawing,  preliminary  course  for 
boys,  23 ; trade  drawing  for  the 
building  trades,  course  in,  23-27; 
neatness  in,  70. 

Educational  discussion,  meetings 
for,  84-87. 

Educational  institutions,  government 
of,  87-89. 

Elementary  schools,  description,  57; 
government,  88. 

English,  classes  in,  in  commercial 
schools  for  girls,  69. 

Finance,  61-66. 

French,  classes  in,  in  commercial 
schools  for  girls,  69. 

Future  of  the  German  trade  schools, 
9I-94- 


107 


108  INDEX  TO  INDUSTRIAL  SCHOOLS  OF  HAMBURG  AND  ALTONA 


Girls,  classes  for,  60;  public  contin- 
uation schools,  75-77;  private 
school  at  Hamburg,  77-78;  contin- 
uation school  for  salesgirls,  82. 

Glaziers,  school  for,  17. 

Government  of  educational  institu- 
tions, 87-89. 

Grocer,  commercial  courses  for,  46- 
49. 

Hair  workers-,  school  for,  16. 

Hamburg,  trade  unions,  74-75. 

Hamburg  schools,  historical  sketch, 

7- 8;  supervision  and  government, 

8- 10;  division  of  trade  schools,  10- 
11 ; buildings,  11-13;  laboratories 
and  workshops,  13-17;  trades  rep- 
resented, 19;  course  for  decorative 
painters,  23;  sketch  of  faculty,  50; 
elementary  schools,  description,  57; 
number  of  pupils  in  attendance,  59 ; 
classes  for  women,  60;  tuition,  62; 
educational  finances,  63-65 ; com- 
pulsory attendance,  71 ; girls  pri- 
vate school  at,  77-78. 

Harburg,  school  for  bakers,  51 ; con- 
tinuation school,  78-79. 

Historical  sketch,  7-8. 

Hours  and  program,  20-21. 

Industrial  laws,  89-91. 

Internal  divisions,  22. 

Joined  classes,  22. 

Laboratories,  13-17. 

Lacquerer  classes,  44-45. 

Laws,  industrial,  89-91. 

Locksmiths,  classes  for,  70. 

Masons,  workshops  for,  14. 

Mechanic,  training  in  pedagogy,  55- 

56. 

Mechanical  branches,  training  of 
teacher  in,  53-55- 

Meetings  for  educational  discussion, 
84-87. 

Milk  boys,  classes  for,  70. 

Models,  17-18. 


Munich,  workshops  connected  with 
trade  schools,  13. 

Notebooks,  neatness  in,  70. 

Painters,  courses  for,  39-44. 

Penmanship,  not  taught  in  trade 
schools  generally,  70. 

Physics,  application  to  the  trades,  69. 

Plumbing  classes,  work  in,  69. 

Program,  20-21. 

Pupils,  preparation  of,  56;  attend- 
ance, 70-73. 

Kecords,  60-61. 

Reports,  60-61. 

Salesgirls,  continuation  school  for, 
82. 

School  hours  and  program,  20-21. 

Special  visits,  68-70. 

Street  pavement  layers,  course  for, 
15- 

Supervision  and  government,  8-10. 

Teachers,  49-60;  training  of,  53;  in 
mechanical  branches,  training  of, 
53-55- 

Technical  classes,  visits  to,  68. 

Text  books,  6 7-68. 

Trade  schools,  division  of,  10-11; 
buildings,  12;  future  of,  91-94; 
three  types  of,  93,  94;  adapting  to 
America,  94-101.  See  also  Contin- 
uation schools. 

Trade-union  schools,  7;  union  of, 
with  continuation  schools,  7. 

Trade-unions  of  Germany,  73-75- 

Trades  represented,  19. 

Tradesmen,  attitude  of,  79-81. 

Trenkner,  Director,  lecture,  102-6. 

Truancy,  seldom  occurs,  72. 

Tuition,  61-66. 

Visits,  special,  68-70. 

Wig  makers,  school  for,  16. 

Women,  see  Girls. 

Workshops,  13-17. 

Written  work,  neatness  in,  70. 


